Eureka!

With this painting I feel like I have finally found something that I have been desperately in search of for years. It was so unexpected, like turning over a rock by accident and finding a gemstone. I have been working and working and then boom everything came together; a meaningful idea, a satisfying methodology and successful visual painting elements. Also it seemed independent of my own desires and mood. I was feeling rather lousy about myself and just about everything and then this idea for a painting just came and worked. I plan to do a series of this idea and if that starts to happen, then I will explain the meaning more clearly. I don't want to jinx it all just yet.
I do find comfort in that artistic success comes from consistent work and not from personal happiness or state of mind. I have rediscovered that drawing in a sketchbook is very important to my process. Not to get a blueprint for a painting, but to put shapes into my visual memory. So that when I am painting, I can just be free to paint and not feel I have to be tied to any reference. I also think I will have to have a new motivation to get work done, like a ritualistic schedule instead of a frenzied search. I observed in Korea that the way people did tasks had to be like worship for them. How else could you be at peace cleaning a sidewalk with tiny brushes or trimming shrubbery to immaculate perfection?

Thinking Man

I tried the thick modeling paste again. The results are interesting. I don't know if I am ready for solid blocks of color, I miss the variation of tones that was in the still life. But I do like the three dimensional presence of the thick modeling paste.

More Colors

After being around the plein air painters this week, I am hungry for delicious sophisticated colors. Nature is the best teacher. Mixing my own colors is something I love to do but it is hard in liquid acrylics because they dry so fast. Also working with the little bottles of Golden Liquid acrylics that the local art supply sells makes working on larger pieces even harder. You really need one of every color like with pastels so you can just grab them at whim. I find I mostly mix with white which is probably a bad habit.
Anyway all of the hot yellow in the " Looking for Home" painting started to bother me so I painted some of it out. But I don't think I am changing it much because I am not willing to loose it and bring it back right now. I think I will have to improve on the next painting. I used some of these thoughts on my next plein air painting. I thought if I use a strong red then I also need just as strong of another color, like blue. I also mixed more colors for it and it was small, so this was easier to do. I will have to take a picture of it at the plein air auction tonight.