Sunday, April 29, 2012

Rooster with Border


Rooster with Border
© 2012
mini watercolor and ink painting on Arches watercolor paper, 4" x 6" (oswoa)

This is one of 4 paintings I have been working on in almost marathon style. It is my least favorite of the 4, so as I go along, I'll eventually show you my best one (best one being the one I like the most and which reflects my personality and interests).

The self imposed assignment is to create 4 paintings in 2 weeks that have to do with farm animals. I am choosing to do farm animals with flowers and a garden theme. In this one, the garden theme is less apparent except for the yellow flowers in the border.

Some background on the assignment: I am creating these for an art show which has to depict or to be about some aspect of agriculture. I grew up in the country where the view from the back of the house was pasture land (mainly for cows). My parents were gardeners and had this lovely flower garden in the foundation of an old stone silo. Occasionally the farm animals would break through their fencing and be all over our yard and especially in my parents garden eating everything in sight. Thus, it seemed natural for me to pick the theme of farm animals and the garden.   

Just a special note to my readers: I have been missing from action for 2 reasons: I didn't have access to my blog through Internet Explorer (had to upload Google Chrome in order for it to be useful to me again) plus the painting marathon I mentioned above.

links:

4 comments:

  1. OK Lise, you can be upset with me ... but something is wrong with this design. It's good, don't get me wrong ... but ... its like you were under pressure or something and it doesn't seem like your heart is in this one. It just doesn't have the delicate intricacy that I have grown to love in your pieces.

    If you want to scream at me, fine. My hubby critiques all my work and sometimes I end up not talking to him for quite awhile ... but critisism comes from love and wanting to always see a bit better out of someone you care about. (He is usually correct, not always ... but most of the time.) I care about you.

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  2. PS If you want to delete my comment, I will not be offended. And, I hope we will still be friends ... AND I hope you will free to offer the same critiques to my work ... otherwise, how do we learn?

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  4. Karen Anne, of course I don't mind your critique.

    And yes, I felt under pressure by the deadline and the necessity of submitting 4 paintings minimum. My next one in the series will show it too (though I like it a bit more). I should have given myself more time (the application wanted to see 4 - 10 paintings in the theme of "agriculture" and I only gave myself 2 weeks). One painting took over 10 days because I ran into some problems with the background, but it came out the way I wanted in the end. Then another painting took 3 days. So that only left a day and a half for two quickies -- this one was one of the quickies. I would have been happy to just submit one painting (and don't really understand the necessity for 4 minimum).

    I didn't feel I could take off more time than two weeks for this "go around" to paint subject matter that is presently not in my usual realm as far as my paper products are concerned. But if I don't get into the show this year, I'll try to take more time to paint farm animals for next year's juried exhibit.

    The deadline for the exhibit is today. Good thing because I am exhausted from it all! It was almost as though as I was in college again, up too late trying to finish an assignment.

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