I am back in a session of painting classes with Kat. She is such a good instructor and also is so generous in spirit and information. Tomorrow is the last session of a set of five sessions.
My wishes for myself are to keep the habit going and to slow down not just to look, but see. It takes so much more time to see and wrestle with your brain to trust your eyes and ignore your brain.
I struggle with wanting to jump ahead and get to the “fun” part of playing with the paint, but when I actually slow down to see the ending result is better. Remember that! Also, remember Kat’s suggestion to talk to yourself out loud about what you see to help override the brain.
A later goal is to work on more confident paint strokes and doing a better job of paint control (not too much or too little) on the paint brush.
This one has a lot of layers and took quite a bit of time. I am so pleased with it. It’s the best likeness I've gotten of a picture. It doesn't hurt that it's one of my orangies, Chandler.
Sometimes when I’m finished, I can step back and say I did the best that I am capable of at this time and I feel that way about this one.
Back in 2016 when I attended my first set of painting classes, I remember feeling the same way about my first attempt to paint a cat. I remember feeling terrified to try and paint a cat. When I was done, I also felt a rush of pride for the attempt and at the time, also felt that it was the best I was capable of at the time.
We all start where we are and thankfully with practice and some good instruction that starting point gets better over time.
