Yesterday I raided the pantry for bottles, arranged and rearranged the set up, and painted from life. I prefer to paint still life subjects from life rather than photographs. Photographs hide the subtleties of color and shadow that are so crucial to an attractive depiction. The two paintings, 8x8 and 6x8 inches will take a while to dry since they were rendered in oil paint. While they are drying, I like to let them sit for a few days in a place where I can get glimpses each time I pass by. It helps me to get some perspective. Sometimes I will have a wonderful time painting a subject and fall in love with the experience only to find a few days later that the painting really isn't very good. Then I either paint over it, wipe it out, or restretch the canvas and start something new. On the other hand, sometimes I will struggle with a subject and want to wipe out my work only to find that with a few days sitting on the easel, the work is actually not as bad as I thought. Finished work sitting on my easel needs a gestation period before it is released into the world. These little paintings are still in that gestation period. I think they will probably be hatched in a week or two when the paint is dry. What do you think? Wipe out, paint over, or birth?
