Five Again, Fantasies of Spring

I decided to give the lingering gray landscape a hint of spring. Note the yellow-greens creeping in. It's a total fantasy, though there have been surprise spring storms to cover up the daffodils in the past, that kind of bright green and what looks like a good 18" isn't a terribly likely combination. But, I'm feeling more encouraged about life as I paint these, despite the late start to my day and the nasty fight with my electronics this morning. Painting has a way of transporting me to another place, a good place, despite whatever setbacks may have occurred previously.

First brush is the deepest. I must be listening to some oldies radio stations.

Once again there is variation between each panel. That's a good thing. The whole, multiple panels at the same time allows me to loosen up more and try more different arrangements of colors and designs all on a small scale.

Final art.

I'm liking these again. I do have to make an effort to balance the looser brush strokes with the more refined areas. When is it just plain sloppy and when does it become overworked or self-conscious? Decisions, decisions. I am finding it useful to select and edit based on whether the particular brush stroke expresses the shape and blends into the fabric of the whole, rather than sitting like an ugly duckling on top of the picture calling attention to itself. But, I do so like those aggressive strokes, like an overly eager student in a class on Shakespeare, "Me too! Look here!". I am afraid I indulge them a bit too much at times. It is a classic case of "falling in love with your own brushstrokes" and thereby saving them past their prime. But "killing your darlings" is way to hard a job for this humble stumbler.

I don't think I had quite enough time to really finish these five. The houses need a tad more "je ne sais quoi" and I totally forgot to make it snow. This Friday, more white stuff on the way.