Monday, November 1, 2010

Many Starts, Few Finishes

I seem to have gotten into a place where I have many paintings started and none of them are getting finished. Currently I have 4 paintings in various stages of doneness. I'm not sure why I have started doing this. Usually I work on two pieces at once so that while one painting is drying in between layers I have something to do, but I have never worked on 4 consecutively. They don't seem to be getting done any quicker and in fact, I feel like I am a bit unfocused working this way. I am hoping to get them all done this week but it's not going to happen if I keep working this way. I need to just work on one and finish it before moving on to the next one.

This painting is pretty much done. After looking at it, I see that her right cheek is too wide and I need to thin and lengthen the look of her face. This is a commissioned piece that has got me over-thinking too much. I can't seem to get the look just right. It looks pretty close but I am not satisfied. I'm hoping that once I thin her face, it will look more like the original photo.

I started this painting yesterday. I got a lot done yesterday but the rock she is sitting on and the body still needs work. Her right breast looks very odd. 

This is another painting I started yesterday. It's a woman sitting but I got focused on her face and hair. I am loving the way the head looks without the body, the incompleteness of the rest of the painting. I may need to experiment with some portraits later and have the faces nicely painted while the body is a rough sketch. One of my studio-mates suggested I play with that and I think it's a good idea...when I have some spare time. 

And finally, the turtle race. I finished the underpainting of this on Friday but haven't touched this since. It's a large painting for me, 30"x40". It's a little intimidating for me which could be why I started two smaller pieces rather than finish this painting. Like I said, I am hoping to get back on track and finish these 4 pieces by this weekend. I have been called to jury duty tomorrow and am hoping to get excused, otherwise that could really mess up all of my plans. 


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