Day 3 of 30 paintings in 30 days was definitely a CHALLENGE to say the least. Was there ever a time when you wanted to rip a painting and throw it in the trash? That would be how I felt today, but I resisted the temptation by telling myself to enjoy the learning experience. I think joy will come eventually because let's be real...I wasn't feeling much joy...hahaha.
I decided that I would attempt Tulips...I mean how hard could they be, right? I've painted them in oil using a brush, and I've painted them in watercolor so I was sure I had this. Plus... their shape, again, was pretty simple. They are like an oval with petals opened at the top. Well, my friend, I was wrong! It is so funny how a simple shape can be difficult to paint. I should have know though because I remember one of my professors saying that a simple cup, glass, or bottle can be one of the hardest to draw.
Day 3:
Bowing Tulips 8x10 oil on Canvas Sheet
There are several techniques I'm still trying to figure out using the palette knife such as... Blending. When I try to lightly blend, I either make a mess or I smear color that I didn't intend to touch. The good news is there are so many tutorials on YouTube and Pinterest than I can learn from.
After deciding to leave this painting as seen in the above picture, I assigned myself a lil' homework assignment. I went straight to my ipad for a YouTube video (I search You Tube for literally everything!) and found a very well put together tutorial on painting a tulip with a palette knife. You can watch the video here. The artist does a great job explaining the how's and why's, and she makes it look so effortless. Just as I suspected...my approach to the tulip was totally wrong.
I have plans to scrape off the paint and try the tulip again using the techniques from the artist in the tutorial, and I think a couple more tulip attempts are in my future as they are my favorite Spring flower. Wish me luck!