New Work: Are We There Yet?

Are We There Yet?
Acrylic on canvas 20" x 20" 

This last week I picked away at this piece in what might be termed a "desultory" way. I gave it half as much attention as I could have. I did start with a vague idea of wanting to work in sections. This is risky for me since normally I work the whole canvas at once. I got around this by making a bargain with myself. Typically I mix up one color and apply it in several areas at once. Once that color is gone, I don't repeat it for fear of not being able to match it. This time I told myself to just mix the color and apply it and if I wanted the same color again, well, I would get as close as possible or maybe mix up a different value of that color. In other words, I would stop worrying about matching the colors. 

I did pretty well in the freak out department. I didn't have any kind of a meltdown and the painting world didn't come to an end. I mixed colors as I went along and I am happy with the results. The differences from one blue to the next, for example, are subtle but from a distance they simply read as blue. Which is important to remember, to view your work from a distance as well as up close. And remember the painting axiom of "your work has to work from every angle", meaning you should be able to rotate your painting and have it work upside down as well as right side up? Guess what? Too bad! I originally had this going in another direction and it simply wasn't working. I turned it upside down and it works much better. So there!

Alright. I am taking a day off today and I hope everyone else is too. Enjoy the holiday. Thanks for reading,

Libby