The U of Painting Despair
Right now, I have wet paintings in various states of progress all over my studio. Some Italy, some winter, some Arizona cacti, mountains, flowers. Switching between them helps me combat the U of Painting Despair. It's a real thing.
I start out thinking, This one! This may be the best painting I've ever made. The colors are good, the idea is great, everything is beautiful. And then things fall apart a bit.
Something that should work doesn't. It looks weird and flat, or there's too much or not enough, or who even knows. I'm not generally a dramatic person, but give me a painting at the bottom of that U and suddenly, minor depths of despair. Dramatic hand-wringing. I've probably ruined the whole thing, and actually, it's really too bad that I'll never make another good painting again.
But the thing about the U of Despair is that if I keep going, things start to look up. I remember why I started the painting and why I do this.
Which brings me to this meadow painting!
I have loved, hated, despaired dramatically, and now, again, love this one. I'm actually so pleased with where it ended up. It took a while to get what was in my head out onto the painting, but now! The grasses, the little friends hiding among the flowers, the path, and the dusty lavender sky.
