Studio Notes and Reflections

It surprises many, but it is not unusual for me to do the same picture over again.  Yep, that's right, I sometimes finish a painting and think to myself, I'm going to do it over.  It is not all that rare for me to Start, Stop, Destroy.  Start, Stop, Destroy.  You get the picture.  In this instance I didn't 'destroy,' I sold the first version.  But hey, I still wanted to do it over.

What is the point you might be thinking.  Well, for me, if materials are not an issue, that is, if I have enough stuff to do it over, and it 'bugs' me that I didn't do something right, I am driven, by my perfectionist nature, to see if I can improve.  So sometimes I 'do it over again.'  I came to a realization where I took the 'wrong turn' and I right myself, even if it is "the road less traveled."   I want to LEARN.

Now, don't get me wrong, I do not usually post Version I and Version II on the website.  But in this instance, I'm doing it.  In my first version, which was I think was fairly respectable, I left it a tad unhappy with the shape of the trees.  The shape of the trees? you are thinking?  Yep, tree limbs get to me.

I'm going to leave it up to you to compare the two versions.  But one thing I will tell you, the trees in Version II were done with Terry Ludwig 150.  A very dark purple.  In Version I stuck with dark brown values.  I wrote about Version I in an earlier blog on Recycling  Used Panels.

The Right Color for Texas Bluebonnets

One thing that I did get out of redoing this painting is a better understanding of color.  I remembered that Karen Margulis had mentioned in one of her posts that Texas Bluebonnets are not really blue, they are VIOLET.  

Around Christmas there were a lot of sales and I purchased this box of Mount Vision Pastels that were described as 5 PURPLE/VIOLETS-NEW #920-924.  The set includes MVS920, MVS921, MVS922, MVS923, MVS924.  Buying color online is notoriously difficult.  But for the price, and it was a GREAT price, I snatched them up.  

Honestly, when I opened the box I thought to myself, well this is a waste, these colors are all PURPLE and not VIOLET at all!  I wanted Blue Violet and to my eye they didn't look right.  But, I tried them.   Juxtaposed against shades of green they were right on.  

Spring is right around the corner here in Central Texas, and you need to be ready for the bluebonnets!