Wednesday, March 17, 2010

New Acrylic Sunflower Painting - on the easel


An acrylic painting in progress - 15" x 15" sunflower

This is the UGLY stage... when the first streaky layers show the underpainting, and background is just barely there to show the outline of petals. I don't think I've ever shown an acrylic in this early stage online before. It's because at this point, I am never sure if I can get the painting to somewhere close to what is in my mind. And of course, failure is not an option! (At least that's what I tell myself!)

I have worked more on the upper petals of the sunflower than the rest of the painting, so I can begin to see the possibilities coming to life. But this is the UGLY stage. And I really dislike this stage. It's like a baby being born with dry and wrinkled skin... in a few days the dryness is gone, and the beautiful baby skin appears. In a few days, I am hoping the beauty of these petals will appear on this canvas, and the ugly will be gone. Meanwhile, I'm thinking ahead to see what is not yet there, and to overlook what is there!

2 comments:

Jala Pfaff said...

Wow, I don't find it a bit ugly!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Jala! Your encouragement means much - since I consider you to be an exception artist!!!