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| "Orange is the New Joy2" Micron 01 pen with watercolor on Stonehenge Aqua Hotpress |
Such was the case with the image below, which I created a few months back in my Stillman and Birn Episilon hard-backed sketchbook.
The other thing I didn't like about the image below is the heavy-handed shadowing with ink lines on the green stem that goes to the left.
Of course I know there are ways to photoshop those problems away, but that's a skill I have not yet tried to learn.
So. The top image that you see here is my effort to re-painted the image below. But here's the dilemma with the second image: Nothing surprised me. The washes were more controlled this time and didn't yield the wonder I experienced at what happened below. I certainly didn't have that "Ahhhh!" sense when I was finished like I did the first time around. I also made the flower wider on the left than it should be -- it kinda sorta went "out there" on a little trip of its own, didn't it?
So. While trying to fix one mistake, I made another.
Re-painting an image from one you've already made is definitely different that making several "drafts" of a composition in which you alter perspective or approach, as I've written about before.
Trying to correct the mistakes but otherwise doing the same thing -- well, it just doesn't yield that element of surprise. Yet I'm sure there are artists out there who fine-tune their images with several tries. Any wisdom to offer?
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| "Orange is the New Joy1" with Micron 01 pen and watercolor in Stillman & Birn Sketchbook, 5.5" x 8.5" in., Epsilon Series |
I sometimes rework paintings. It can be tough to keep a sense of life and spontaneity in the second attempt. Sometimes doing a warm up helps me to loosen up, and I like to work quite quickly to try to retain the energy in my lines- my second tries can be over-precise if I let them. Sometimes it takes me three or four tries to get a version I'm happy with- but each redo is a learning experience! Here it looks like you used a wet on wet wash with diluted then thicker paint in the first version- the variation gives it depth and life and you've let the paint do its own thing. The paint in the second is more even and looks like it dried between colour applications. You maybe took more time over the lines, which has them feeling more more controlled and less energetic than the first. So if you try again, maybe warm up with some gesture drawings or squiggles on scrap paper, and try those lovely loose washes- it will never be exactly the same as the first but that's part of the beauty!
ReplyDeleteYes, that’s exactly what I did, Andrea — the wet on wet wash the first time, and then the 2-layer approach the second time. Great idea to loosen up with gesture sketching. And truthfully it hadn’t occurred to me to try this one a third time since the second time left me disappointed. I will take you up on the challenge! Thanks so much for offering your thoughts.
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