Detail added to my earlier blog post of a snowdrop
I thought it might be helpful to share how I feel when painting exercises which often lead to further large paintings.
Earlier today I shared a small study on a scrap of paper with a little colour on it, painted around the negative shape of a snowdrop. If you study the image below, no detail has been added to the flower and you may notice that the pigment around the shape is still wet.
Snowdrop in its first stgae, a negative painting with no detail on the flower.
When I returned to this piece a beautiful watermark had formed in the lower corner of the painted section. All I had to do next was add the touches of green to the top "cap" above the petals and the lines to the lower "inner skirt" of the centrre.
Detail added and the pigment is dry in this image.
Now, in this study, I feel the cold of Winter. I can feel the greyness of an English January and also I am reminded of days full of rain. To work on a new piece I can ask myself is this the effect that I want? It is quite pleasing in some ways. I can imagine this in a white or silver frame so my mind is already jumping ahead to the real composition to follow.
But I could move to more exciting colour combinations.
Most importantly though, I am painting. Not sat wondering what to do today,wasting valuable creation time. Often I think it is easy to spend far too long worrying about what will happen or what to do rather than actually just moving our brushes and getting on with the most wonderful feeling of all. Which is hodling your brush and allowing colour to flow across paper!
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