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Thursday, September 09, 2021

Pastel Fix

I was excited to finish a painting the other day, Hour Sky.   I took a photo right away and posted to the family and posted on my blog.  Son David wrote back immediately telling me he saw a face in the clouds.  I looked again and sure enough a big face.  Wait!  two more faces.  Drat.  Once you see them you can't un-see them so I changed the clouds which changes the painting, but I like it better.

Clouds and rocks are difficult to paint without "faces" or animals.  I suppose we always look for pictures in the sky.  

The first Hour Sky

And the new Hour Sky with is now about a Two Hour Sky:

The trick now is to not look for pictures in the sky.

The painting is from someone else's photo so in reality was a practice painting.  I did get a good reminder to look over my painting before I call it finished.

Some ways I check my paintings:

  • Change to black and white
  • Look at it in a mirror
  • Look at it upside down
  • Turn it to the wall and leave it for a day or so
  • Have someone else look at it

What do you do to review your work?



11 comments:

R's Rue said...

So beautiful. I hope you’re doing well.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com

Jo Castillo said...

R's Rue, thanks. Always good to hear from you. Your words inspire and soothe. Doing well here.

Joan Tavolott said...

This is a beauty!

I usually sit my paintings up on a counter and leave them there so I can look at them causally for a while. And sometimes I just put them away for a while and look at them later with fresh eyes.

Jo Castillo said...

Joan, thanks for that. I do sit paintings where I can see them when I walk by, like you say, casually looking. Good idea.

Jennifer Rose said...

what was wrong with having faces in the clouds??

Jo Castillo said...

Jennifer Rose, ha! Faces are OK but we could only see the faces, sort of like a cartoon. Not my intention in this case.

Jennifer Rose said...

ah i get you :) i have a painting like that, its very abstract but somehow the shapes make a penis and ow thats all i can see and not the waterfall lol

Jo Castillo said...

Jennifer Rose, lol. I haven’t had that result … yet.

Bag Blog said...

I love your pastel landscapes. I have a little one that you did in Angel Fire several years ago. It makes me think of you when I see it, and it reminds me of the NM scenes I love.
This reminds me that I need to do more cloud pictures for practice.

ashok said...

Love the sky!

Jo Castillo said...

Bag Blog, I always like landscapes and prefer to do them in real life and not from a photo. Thanks for the memory of Angel Fire. I'm smiling.

ashok, thank you. Skies are fun to paint.


About Me

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Bastrop, Texas, United States
I Grew up in a small town , Magdalena, New Mexico. I enjoy art and the pleasure other people get from my work. I always donate some of my sales and art to charities, especially for children. That started in Bolivia with Para los Niños. "I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns." -- Winston Churchill

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