Substitute Pastel and Progress

I never posted about the work on the painting last week (see image at bottom) or about the substitute pastel... Well, I went to the Art Alliance ready to rescue and complete the damaged pastel only to discover that my model was at home! I was determined to do work there and not go home in a huff, so I rooted around and found part of a brick outside the building and some wilted tulips and bleeding hearts in the trash from a weekend art reception. After cutting the stems, I put them in a narrow glass vase and placed all my objects under a strong spotlight. I decided it was a decent subject and would merely treat it as a memory exercise. The key was to remember Ron Monsma's instructions on recreating the gritty texture of the brick in pastel. I have to admit it was more fun than I'd had in a while since I was not committed to making any finished Art. I was quite pleased at the end of the session to discover my memory is in tact and that I had the beginnings of a lovely painting. I intend to complete it next week and will post images then.

As far as Gala goes, I've avoided it. After getting the canvas mostly covered I was thinking it's going to be work from here on out - a big ugly struggle. Not something I wanted. Yesterday, I began slowly on the teacup and saucers since I knew the ellipses were all wrong and I needed to fix them. I made a pot of coffee and got down to work. After an hour I was very frustrated and wondering if I should just do something else entirely before I became too exasperated. I took a 20-minute break and remembered how I felt working on the brick and eventually decided to just do it. That did the trick! I not only resolved the ellipse problems, but improved the values in addition to keeping everything nice and loose! I even began to work on the Ferrero Rocher candies because I had the appropriate colors out. Now my attitude is MUCH better and I don't dread going down there today to work. I am sometimes amazed at the emotional roller coaster ride I can take when making paintings. Enjoy the ride - I will.