Garden Shelf, 18x24" oil, Diane Mannion
Making Changes
It's important to have artist friends with eagle eyes because sometimes I'm so close to my work I can't see it anymore. This painting is a revision of the last painting for 2015, Garden Horse.
One of my personal critics reacted to the horse's head like a scene out of the Godfather where a horse's head was found in bed. And another critic friend said it wasn't my best idea of something to paint. Sometimes, I'm so anxious to paint that I grab the first thing handy.
First version with dreaded horse's head.
Horse head blocked out and copper pot added.
Glad I showed the stage below to one of my critics who saw something I simply DID NOT SEE. Oh! The horror!
Can you spot it?
Pig face!!!
Learned a lot with this painting. Four, six, or eight eyeballs are better than two. And it's all right to make changes if it makes a better painting. Didn't really like that horse's head anyway.
Had started this painting outside, then worked from photos which didn't help much, then clipped flowers and brought flower pots into the studio.... but where that pig came from I'll never know.
2 comments:
I agree with your critics, like it much better without the horse head! Turned out beautifully!
Thank you, Marcela! I like it better also. Some paintings seem like they're never finished, so making changes is fine with me. Especially when I please my critic friends. We don't paint just to please ourselves but have to keep the viewers (and clients)in mind.
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