Pages

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Thinking Big!

“The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.”
- Ayn Rand


"Rain in the gum forest" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 20" x 39" - Maree©

This is my first foray into BIG! A familiar subject, trees... There's something so scary and intimidating about a huge, pristine white piece of paper staring at you - putting that first splash of colour feels almost like sacrilege, like I'm defacing something pure and wonderful. But as the colour started to take over, I confidently worked faster, thinking about my own advice on fear - what's the worst that can happen?

Do I fear wasting the paints? What would happen if I did? I’d get more. I’d move on. I’d live.

Do I fear spoiling the paper? What would happen if I did? I’d crumple it up and throw it away. I'd get some more. I’d live.

And so I bravely worked with big, bigger than what I'm used to anyway, brush strokes, finally seeing it all come together. Whew!

I did a practice sketch of these trees on our smallholding, shortly after a downpour, and did the painting from that. I just could not see myself out in the bush with the easel and this big piece of paper!

2 comments:

  1. Wow! Bet that felt different! I'd need larger brushes :) Nice work. Go girl!

    By the by, I love Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Read it sooooo many years ago. I just look it up on the web. Surprisingly it's had it's most sales in 2009 - seems lots of people are seeking a leader. A true leader.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Pam, and I found I also need some bigger brushes! My Hake has gone a bit floppy and big round brushes are a bit of a scarcity here.

    I read The Fountainhead in my twenties and have never forgotten it, but haven't done Atlas Shrugged.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are welcome! And thank you for visiting my blog!