"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, September 7, 2009

This painting was done some time ago in a class I was taking with Marge Brandt of Wapakoneta, Ohio, a great watercolorist and watercolor instructor. This was my first truck painting! Some of you may know that I am obsessed with old trucks and have posted some of the paintings on this blog in the past. Well - this is the truck that started it all! I am not too fond of the job I did on the truck, but I am proud of the rolled bales in the front and I think the forground is much stronger than the back of the painting. I should probably cut it in half and frame the bottom:) Of course, that is one of the weaknesses in this painting - it is really two paintings - top and bottom, with nothing to connect the two. I can see it now, but totally missed it then. I look back at these older painting, and I can really see how I have changed in my style of painting.

4 comments:

Michael Lukyniuk said...

Sometimes we are a little hard on ourselves when we criticize our own paintings. I think that your painting works out fine. What it conveys to me is a sense of time ... that period between the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Colours are faded, more muted. There is a sense of pause. I think that the lower and upper parts complement one another. Good job!

Barb Sailor said...

Michael...Thank you so much for your encouraging remarks...they are MUCH appreciated. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Barb Sailor said...

Michael...I visited your blog and I have to say that your work has the most extraordinary color clarity - especially the blues in your water. Also the negative painting in the leaves in your latest post is very good.

jgr said...

I agree, you are a little harsh on yourself. It's a nice painting overall but my favorite part is the detail in the hay-- excellent job!