# 24...Fear not your failure

Tonight I received an email with an article regarding the philosophy of an artist, Greg McHuron. Unfortunately, the artist is no longer living but his legacy lives on as it appears he touched many lives while visiting here on earth. I was not one of the lucky ones to have met him but his quote, "Fear not your failure.!" is an appropriate one for me today.

So although, I feared this painting would be difficult and that I would struggle due to the poorly lit model, I forged ahead. Failure, indeed! As sometimes is my weakness, my facial features kept growing and got out of kilter and no longer represented the person I was wanting to depict.

Since I produced another'failure', that puts me closer to a really good painting! With that in mind, I photographed this one for here and then wiped the face off. I will give it a try again; maybe tomorrow or later.....but it sure felt good to paint anyhow.

Fear not your failure...............forge ahead.............who knows what you may produce!

# 14......clearing the clutter

This getting in to the studio every day is so much easier this time. I think it is a mindset and the fact that this year I had chosen all the reference material ahead of time. Although i haven't stuck to keeping it simple, I am somehow having more enjoyment in the process.It could be that I am in the mode of 'cleaning out'..........you know, lessening the clutter. Not just the physical but the mental clutter.

I have been fortunate in recent years to travel a great deal and have some wonderful experiences with fellow artists. As I always have my camera and am gathering reference photos, I have accumulated a great deal. Many have stuck in my head for a painting, a series, a competition....you know what I mean! Anyway, I have been paring down my closets, Christmas decorations, just STUFF!

It feels wonderful to start putting some of those finally down on canvas and getting rid of some of the clutter in my mind. I think the fear of failure is my worst enemy. I am trying to get beyond that and if a painting is a failure, that's okay. It just puts me that much closer to the next good one.

Using the same surface for a number of paintings in a row is also teaching me a thing or two. I am growing in my knowledge of what surfaces work best for me and my statement.

Although I need to go back and tweek a thing or two, not a bad effort for today....

               #14   Sunflower Bonnet

             12 x 12" oil on panel NFS

#13 ....30 paintings in 30 days 2013

This one was a challenge to deal with the dappled light, reflected light and all the crazy things going on in the fleshtones! Knowing the general light source gave me a start but I seemed to have it too warm, then too cool...........remembering this gentleman, I knew he had been in the sun alot so he had good color but the cool light bouncing all around seemed to wash it out.

I at least knew better than to keep going and made a real mess of it, so I will let it sit a day or two and then go back and warm it up and add some needed finishing touches. I am ready to start the next one which is full of colors!

Again I mixed a chromatic black using my blue green and my maroon, using more towards the blue this time. I think I should have had it a little more towards the red with all that cool background.

Every day in the studio is a lesson...............thank goodness I love to learn!

                                      # 13   Stetson in Black

                                  12 x 12" oil on panel   NFS

Once again, thank you so much for viewing my art........Ruth Ann

# 12 Velvet Hat w Brooch

What a challenge! Trying to paint something that is black and show interesting contour and color variation  is difficult. Rather than rely on the number of tube blacks that I have, I chose to mix one. For one I mixed Rembrandt Blue Green ( similar, I think to Pthalo Green) and my favorite, Grumbacher's Perylene Maroon. When I mixed a few different chromatic blacks, I got some very interesting, yet very different hues. The one appeared much more red and I liked it when I started brushing it on the canvas for this hat, so I chose not to go for something closer to black.

It was very dark but yet gave me some variety and even more value variation than I could see in the photo, but knowing the light source and strength, I could make a pretty accurate guess.

The hardest part was the background and keeping it simple and IN the background. I still want to hit my highlights again and tweek the background but for now I will consider this one ready for the drying rack!

                      #12 Velvet Hat w/Brooch           

                                                 12 x 12"       NFS


As always, thanks for looking...........Ruth Ann

# 10................30 paintings in 30 days 2013

This discipline of getting to the studio might finally be working like I was hoping. It has motivated me and by just 'doing the work', I have excercised my right brain enough that it is now correctly in the mode of'  " how can I best tell the story I have to tell ?  ".

So today, I started one that has been percolating in my mind for quite some time; part of a series. The problem was mostly fear of failure, but also sometimes an idea just needs to set on the shelf until it's time.

So I chose to start with just a wash of oil color to get me started and that really was part of the solution. Not only did it get me beyond that 'white canvas syndrome', it set the mood for the less importrant background. The shapes were very necessary but I needed them to stay quiet so the foreground could speak. I am very happy with the result!

                                                        #10......Straw Visor with Flower
                                                   12 x 12" oil on canvas (mounted to wood panel)
                                                                        NFS

Thanks so much for viewing my art.......comments are always welcome..........Ruth Ann