But, sometimes I don't see that a painting isn't working like I thought it would...until....after I've painted it! When I got through painting these, I asked my wife what she thought of them. She didn't say anything for what seemed like a looooong time. Living with another artist for 25 years, I knew something wasn't working for her and I wasn't seeing it. I pushed her to tell me her honest opinion and when she did, I saw that the house was not working like I thought. I was not through with this painting after all! Here it is...
Since the painting is done with acrylic and acrylic dries very fast, I knew I could paint over the parts that needed to be changed. The part that I needed to change is to the left of the door. So I take the tracing drawing first and laid it over the top of the painting and started redrawing the new design on that side. Then I transferred it onto the top of the painting and started painting over the top...the first strokes are always the hardest because I had already spent a good amount of time and energy on what I now was covering up....
After the initial strokes were made, I just let myself fly into it deeper and deeper, faster and faster...my confidence growing. I knew I could make it come out right...I just needed to continue. I've had to do this with other paintings. Acrylic paint is great for redoing a painting by covering over the top with new colors.
Once I got my big shapes blocked in with the house, then I needed to put something on the ground in front of it...I get to be a "landscaper" with a paintbrush. How cool is that to see things grow right in front of your eyes?!
You can see the tops of the flowers and the lower parts of the plants are still just white outlines needing to be painted....those flower heads look pretty weird, huh? They are just floating up in the air!
I listened to an audio book while I finished the painting and it made the time go by faster. Here is the finished redo....it's my version of "Extreme Home Makeover" (with a paint brush)!
I'm happy with it now. You can go back up and compare it with the picture that I started with. I think my wife's comments helped me take this painting to the place where it needed to best communicate this spread. (Tiny said he likes it a lot better too....he always sits beside me when I work on a book about him!)
Good boy, Tiny!
