I so enjoyed painting this still life. Painting grapes is so different from painting eyes and the luscious colors were invigorating. Once done and pleased, I decided to paint a similar image in a different painting style. With the second painting I wouldn’t have to be careful. It is suggested that one not be too “precious” when painting anyhow. It subdues aliveness from ones brush strokes. Below, you can see that I in no way considered the painting precious – just fun.
The second painting was actually more difficult to paint than the first. I enjoy its lively brush strokes but it can be scary. For the first painting, I relied on the reference image for content. In the second painting I had to be more imaginative. I remember the moment I decided to circle the grapes with a vivid blue line and decided to add some random dots all over. I like the colors and the additional texture. I hesitated, but then thought I had nothing to lose – my “precious” painting was finished. I have to overcome fear with each irregular and expressive brushstroke.The underlying thought is constantly “I might mess up”. For sure, that is likely to be the case but it doesn’t matter. The inner dialogue can be exhausting. It slows me down but doesn’t stop me. I am sure you can imagine how difficult and stressful it must be to go through this when painting a portrait. Overall, it was a fun week of adventure in painting.
This coming week, I’ll be back to portraits. Have a great weekend. Winifred