I’m done, so done trying to fix this painting. IT was propped up on my relocated watercolor space (more on that later) for several weeks in a not quite finished state. I realized that I was trying to fix it like I would fix something in an opaque medium. This never turns out well for me. I realized that I was in over my head in several ways.
I should have planned ahead of time for a mix of hard edges and lost and found edges.
I should have swatched more and stayed with simpler mixes. I should have written down what colors were in the mix instead of experimenting on the fly in the painting itself. And I should have made larger amounts of these mixes at the start, because getting the combination percentages in subsequent sessions was difficult.
I should have preserved more white paper because lifting after painting left me with a less than pure white.
I spent several hours giving it one last try today, and here is where it stands.
Was the time wasted? By no means! The hours stilled the chatter of my monkey brain for a while and my mental to-do list for the afternoon vanished.
As you can see from my list of should haves, I have learned something in the process.
Is the painting horrible? No, it just isn’t what I call frame-worthy. I have not painted many florals, and those that I have were copies of other watercolors or the product of watching a tutorial. This was painted from a photograph.
The question for me is: Should I have scrapped it earlier? What decision framework can help in the future?
What is the intention for this painting? Is it a commission, gift, or a planned entry in a contest? No, it was what I would call a study piece of a skill-stretcher.
Is it so far gone that my time would be better spent starting fresh? No, I am done with this floral piece. I will seek improvement by studying other watercolor florals and doing some small studies if single blooms.
Have I learned of any new approaches to rescue things like hard edges? Yes, I actually softened quite a few of them this afternoon.
Am I in the proper frame of mind to spend time on fixing this now? Will I feel terrible if I don’t achieve a full rescue? It languished for a few weeks while I was tending to household needs, trying to resurrect my old computer and then migrating my online life to this new one. I can now move on after this one last try at fixing it, with no damage to my mental health.
So what else is new here?
We had some days with temps over 100 F, and some potent thunderstorms but it is 10 to 20 degrees cooler this week. Because we are an island that sits between the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound, humidity is high here in the summer. Proximity to NYC and its traffic also affect our air quality during the summer. Makes it the perfect time to hunker down at home.
We are daytime empty nesters, as my son and his wife are both at work during the day and now actively saving for their own home.
My beloved cat is perhaps winding down after 17 years, sleeping more and hiding more for his naps, but still functioning. It is difficult to think of losing him, so we just love him well when he is awake.
I am following doctor’s orders and building up my cardio and endurance. I am walking or using the treadmill more, and getting at least 20 of what my fitbit calls active zone minutes almost every day.
I have been sewing a lot recently. Unfortunately started a number of new sewing/quilting projects and finished only a few.
I knit a beautiful fair isle hat for myself. This is part of my self care, knitting for myself. I’ve been back to my old knitting group on Saturday afternoons. It’s a good group where the conversation ebbs and flows gently and help is exchanged and we get to see so many interesting projects on the needles around the table.
Enough about me, what are you up to this summer? How do you decide when to move on or pause a creative project?
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