I just gotta keep painting - even when I don't want to!

Right now I am working on this painting of Rudyard Kipling. The painting is 24 x 30. So you can see that the face is rather large and takes up most of the canvas. I have never done a face so large. It just seems enormous to me! So anyways - I get to this point on the painting and I just stare at it because I ended up painting in my background that I had started - white again. I really don't know why I made that decision. I didn't want to move forward after that. His face looked so bright and fake to me. I didn't like anything about it. So I worked on his eyes a little bit .. And then I started to like it a little more. But I still wanted to quit. I would go into the living room and just sit and watch tv or something. Then the urge to paint would hit and I would come back to it. Just doing something small to it.. nothing noticeable. I just didn't like it at all. 

Finally I decided that I would paint in a background. And WOW! What a difference it made. It changed the colors of his face. I no longer felt like it was that bad.. I actually warmed up to it very quickly. I then painted in some more little areas with glazes and then started on his shirt collar. What a big difference! So my whole point of this post is that even when you feel like you don't like it or its just not working out... JUST KEEP PAINTING. Tell yourself to just keep going. You have nothing to lose but lack of experience. I had to learn this on my own and I am still learning this.. Just keep painting.. You will eventually like it. 

PS, its not done yet! I still have a long way to go.. Keep in touch!

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What I learned while painting Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman is finally finished. He has been for over a week now. I started another painting and this one is of Rudyard Kipling. Before I get into that however I was going to talk about my Walt painting. What I picked up, and need to remember.. 

The hardest part of this painting for me was his beard. I had no idea how I was going to put in the beard without going over board. To some I may have - to others it may be just right. But what I learned was I really don't have to do every hair in order to make it look right. I just need to make sure there are a few hairs that really stick out from the rest and go into a certain direction to lead your eyes. And that made it look really nice! I don't know if that made any sense... I hope it did. 

I think my favorite part of this painting is the buttons. I love the buttons! 

I was afraid I would have a hard time with the balance also. Because he was kinda off the painting a little with his shirt. So I decided to throw in the chair behind him and make that go off the painting as well. THEN I felt like there was too much space above his head... So I took a streak of dark in the background and made it go off into the corner hoping that it would all balance out a little more.. "I" feel that I accomplished balance. 

I always have to remember when I am painting because I will end up frustrated with what I am doing is that it is "just a romantic representation of the real thing". When I tell myself this, I tend to relax and little more and again enjoy myself. 

If you are new to this blog - I thank you for stopping by. Here is a link to previous entries on the painting before it was finished. Back Post of Walt Whitman Painting If you are a normal visitor I thank you even more! 

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