Process for “Summer Gaze” 24x36

I think my art brain definitely took over my rational brain for the first part of this painting. The first sketch out felt really good. I felt like I had divided the canvas into good sections, nothing too repetitive, nothing too centered. ( you can actually see in the middle purple portion the original place I was going to have the elk’s butt, however, it would not have allowed for enough space for the rest of him).

I then proceeded to go fully into the details of the head without really measuring or stepping back to look at the big picture. Note to self, don’t do that in the future. I ended up redoing the head about three times, and the antlers twice. Redoing as in full blackout restart, repaint the background, smooth edges, and pretty fine details.

Once I reigned in my brain and looked at all the sizing objectively I was happy and went ahead and completed his face and eye and left it alone for the rest of the painting. I was gripped with some mind-numbing fear about attempting all the foliage ( I once painted a fox surrounded by daisies and it turned out so horribly I have been leery about foliage ever since). I went headfirst into the background and my arm was sore from scrubbing colors back and forth, but I was happy with the effect. I honestly do not remember painting the mid-ground. I must have been on autopilot while listening to The Two Towers soundtrack.

I spent a great deal of time polishing up the rocks so they looked smooth but not intrusive, added foreground vegetation to create length on the canvas, fixed/softened any weird outlines, painted the edges, and signed it. I really like when paintings feel complete. Sometimes you throw in the towel because you cannot mentally rework the paint anymore, but this felt very organic and smooth. Altogether this painting took me about 22-23 hours to complete and I’m really happy with the final product.

Starting something new

How do I decide what I want to paint next?

This tends to be either a grueling task, or a simple “eureka” moment. Most times I will be drawn to a specific aspect of a reference photo such as the mood, color, texture, or temperature. When I push myself too hard to choose a new subject for a painting without following my instincts, I know now (after much trial and error) that the completion of the painting will be a rough process, if it happens at all.

I am a firm believer that it’s okay if every painting I start doesn’t get completed. My fantastic art teacher of 7 years Erica Neumann has helped me learn that sometimes a painting will speak to you and pull you in a direction that gets your creative brain moving, but that sometimes newer, more exciting ideas will take over.

For instance, after a month off from painting I wanted to resume a painting I had started but I just didn’t feel the pull to do it. The idea of a blank canvas was much more alluring…

After a few hours I leached my brain of all the color and detail that I could handle and ended up with this progress on a chameleon I have been wanting to paint for a long time.

I worked on it for a couple more weeks until I felt like I was back into my groove and then felt able to pick up a commission I had been struggling with. I haven’t come back to that chameleon yet, but I know it’s waiting for me when I need a little boost. In the meantime you can view my struggle at The Beltliner.