If you aren't a painter, or are new to it, sometimes we make it look so easy...just put some paint on the easel, hold the brush, and "Viola" - a painting is done! But everytime I set up the easel, look around for the thing I want to capture on canvas, and then make my first mark - it's always a "process" . Which is what I love so much about painting. You have to love the process of finding those little pieces that make it all come together. Sometimes it works so easily, and sometimes you keep putting on paint and wondering if it will ever work.
"Mimi's" is a case in point. I had a wonderful little class from Kiawah/Seabrook yesterday and we settled in at Mimi's, first on the back deck in the morning and then in the driveway in the afternoon to talk about perspective. I used a sanded down previously painted board, the cars were in and out of the driveway, the sun was beating down on us, and nothing seemed to work - yes, demos don't always work. But I persevered ( with the encouragement of my students ), put down more paint, played with the light and shadows, and in the end, a nice little painting appeared.
I had a friend who once said that when he played golf, "sometimes I play like a pig, sometimes I nail it". Same with painting, sometimes you nail it, sometimes you spend three hours in the sun, and come home with a beautifully toned (wiped off) canvas. It's all good.
"Mimi's" 8 x 10 oil on board
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