week 4 - guidance is good

What a difference a class makes. Those 3 paintings I worked on at home and wasn't too happy about...I worked on today at Shilo's studio and they look SO different and IMPROVED. I'm getting there. That's the good news. The bad news is that I don't think I could have done it without Shilo's help and suggestions. She says that comes with mileage. I hope so. Anyway, I always feel pretty good after class, like I'm making progress and learning something.

I'm finally understanding what Shilo said last fall about "push and pull" regarding the darks and lights from the overlapping layers. I got to use my Oil Sticks and that was kind of interesting. I recognized that I need a wider brush. Also, Shilo keeps reminding me to let go of the fear and go wild. That DOES seem to help!



For "Foxglove" which I was worried was getting too representational, Shilo had me turn it sideways and work on the floor (as opposed to on the easel.) That helped a lot. It's looking better. Almost there. Needs some light silvery and blue greens.






And I was not happy that the 3 paintings were looking quite alike, palette-wise. Well, "Beets" certainly has taken a departure from the others. Maybe too much so. I probably need to add back the reds and violets over most of that orange. And it looks like I lost a lot of the darks. Will have to work on that too.





Didn't get to work too much on "Red Chard" but just by putting a few large strokes across the vertical "stalks" it has changed quite a bit. Also added a bigger patch of violet and lots of shades of purple. Need to put on the greens next.