Try, Try Again

 

"Nebraska"
11" x 15" watercolor on Arches 100% cotton cold press 

You know the saying: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." So...I've tried this one maybe five or six times. This one comes the closest, so far. We'll see if it passes the tape-to-the-wall test.

I do like the value study I did for this painting (below). I used just grey tones at first to establish where to put the darks, mediums, and lights for the "real" painting, and then just for fun I added color here and there, to map out a few colors I might use for the painting. It's often the cast that the dashed-off study can be more charming than the final product. This one charms me.

When I saw these dilapidated buildings in Nebraska last fall while riding along I-80 (we were traveling from Iowa to Colorado), I was arrested by the beauty of the scene. And I thought about how so many of the old barns and outbuildings in Iowa are being replaced by shiny metal buildings. I've tried to paint a few of those metal buildings, but I have to say, it just isn't very aesthetically pleasing. 

So...here's to the beauty of old barns, even those that are crumbling.