Day Eleven was a day of doubt, feeling like a fraud, an imposter, a Jane Bag-of-Donuts masquerading as an artist. This is probably a result of attempting to paint something with an inadequate photo, on a very rough wall, in a space where I couldn’t back up quickly to observe from a distance and then go close to inspect, biting off more than I could chew, overestimating my abilities. . .
It was also a result of being into the finish work stage; Trail Guy reminded me how quickly a building gets framed, and then how long it takes to do all the finish carpentry when building something.
I started to put in Guy On A Ladder. The ladder looked wonky, and then I realized it looks wonky in the photo. The worst moment was when I realized that the oranges surrounding him were as big as his head would be, if his head was visible.
It took a minute to figure out that my photo is quite inadequate; it was fine for drawing the model for the proposal—colored pencils under a magnifying glass. Maybe I need to shrink the oranges around him.
Never mind. I painted him out and concentrated on orange blossoms, of which there are zillions. ZILLIONS. I painted for about 2 hours on these and felt as if I had moved about 6” along the wall and still had empty places.
Never mind. I decided that painting smudge pots would give a greater sense of forward motion, restore a little confidence. (The color is weirdly bright here. . . it’s a photo accident)
Never mind. I need to keep putting those endless blossoms in. (Whose idea was that??)
I wondered if it mattered when someone was standing back at a good distance. Hard to say in the bright light and shadow.
Never mind. It was time to work on something fun and satisfying.
The quality of the light sure changed quickly during that little situation.
This is how it looked at the end of the day. (It probably looks the same to you as it did at the end of Day Ten.)
A muralist friend sent me this picture, which was posted somewhere by the Exeter mural folks, yesterday, the very same day I was doubting my abilities. If I was able to do this 16 years ago, with relatively little experience, certainly I should be able to complete this little mural on the Ivanhoe library!
6 Comments
Wow, that is a GIANT mural (the Exeter one).
Isn’t it incredible how the little fiddly bits (like blossoms) can take up a disproportionate amount of time. Yet, they make the final painting “sing” and come together.
Keep up the great work.
Whoever you’re impostering, they’re a jolly good painter 🙂
Exactly, Elisabeth, DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT OF TIME!! Thank you for the vote of confidence. Those times of doubt are so tiresome.
Oh, I’m sure you can find a tiny patch of flat *somewhere* on that wall!
Sharon, it is one rough piece of “canvas”!
I remember watching the progress on that Exeter mural, and how people would stop by and watch a Center Valley Artist at work! Didn’t you add some “hidden treasures” (similar to “hidden mickeys”) in that mural?
Sharon, the two Exeter murals were infinitely more social than this one. I hid many items in both of the Exeter murals, and have done this in several other murals. This one? Too soon to know; I need a good idea, and with the rough wall, it might just not be possible to paint in that degree of tiny detail.