Saturday, December 10, 2011

A second look

Sometimes just when you think you are done with a painting something nags at you. For me it was this leopard's belly. It didn't feel right. So I phoned my artist friend Victoria Wilson-Schultz to get her take on it. She agreed. I needed to change the belly. With some prompting I also got her to say she felt the sharp yellow horizon line a bit distracting. Thank you Vikki!

Revised Prime Spot

Here is Prime Spot with the changes I felt it needed (smaller belly, darker chest, lighter left paw against the chest, slightly darker neck left side of the painting, softer horizon line and a few changes which are too hard to see at this scale). You can also see the fur detail I added after my post of Dec 6th.

Getting another artist's take on a piece or setting a painting aside for a couple days can give you a whole new perspective. It is difficult to paint something out, revise, or add elements when you have worked hard on a piece. But all that hard work is for naught if you don't listen to that inner voice whispering (or screaming) for you to make alterations.

Is this now a successful painting? Who knows. But, I think it is a better painting because of the changes.

2 comments:

naturegirl said...

It is an honor to me that you trust my opinion. Thank you Linda. It is a beautiful painting.

So...when are you sending it to me? :)

Peter Brown said...

Lovely work Linda. It's always an education to see your works-in-progress, especially as I've (temporarily?) set aside my acrylics in favour of oils.