Paper Tigers

5” x 7”  excerpt from “Nightfall”
Watercolor
Full painting on 9 x 12” Arches 100 % cotton hot press w/c paper

The assignment for my weekly watercolor class last week was to create a sunset using wet-on-wet techniques. The instructor offered a demo, which I faithfully tried to follow, but I created one bad sky scape after another. 

Four in total, if you must know.

Which led to some paper-tiger thinking: That I was wasting paper. That I would run out of paper and paint at a time when art supplies aren’t easy to get. That trying to make art is frivolous, anyway. That I’m getting nowhere fast on this Sally Project learning curve. That I should be doing something more useful.

Ho hum. Just the usual paper tigers that artists, writers, musicians, and other creatives face on a daily basis. 

The difference between those who create stuff and those who don’t is not talent. It’s the willingness to face down those paper tigers day after day.

It’s true that the final painting (see below) pretty much sucks. But after the paint dried and I looked a little closer and did find an area that kind of works, at least for me (see above). And that gives me the fuel I need for paper tigering. 

Oh — below is the full composition on 9 x 12” watercolor paper. (See why I led with the cropped version?)