"Night" Oil painting on 8 x 16" panel. Copyright Lesley Spanos 2009, all rights reserved.
Painting is a journey. Sometimes a really bad one where everything goes wrong, and you end up hauling your dead grandmother around on the top of your car like Chevy Chase in a National Lampoon Family Vacation movie. The only positive thing I can say about this particular art journey is that no grandmothers died in the process.
What’s ironic here is that Karin’s message to the artist’s this week was about how we’re often our own worst critics. We think that perfectly good paintings suck, while other paintings we hate are sometimes our most popular images. I usually feel I’m pretty good at knowing when a painting sucks, and this one REALLY did. At least, I’m pretty sure it did.
Here are a few shots taken along the way:
The underpainting was done loosely with acrylics and a big brush. Then I did the drawing in pen, and started the house and sky in oils. I liked the underpainting so much I almost didn’t want to draw on it.
At this point, I LOVED this painting! Absolutely loved it. Even my husband gave it an enthusiastic, “WOW! That is SO cool!” as he walked in the door from work. I was sure it would be one of my best, ever.
Here some color has been scrubbed on to the house. I’m keeping it as thin as possible so the underpainting shows throught. Still loving it. Maybe I’ll make those swirls in the foreground into a twisted tree!
Hmmm…. I’m not loving what is happening to the shadows on the house. So I pack on a little more paint… and make it worse as I lose the underpainting under the thick pigment…
Okay, that’s a little better. I saved it from a small disaster and I’m not ready to throw it across the room just yet.
Oh, no! Why did I do that? I covered up the rest of the underpainting with the street, and lost the vitality that was happening there! I’m also not loving that tall shrub on the left. It’s so… dark. And green. The worse it gets, the more paint I have to slap on to correct it, and that makes it worse still.
Maybe the streetlight will help brighten that dark hole of a space where the bush is…
Um…
Yeah, I guess it did brighten that area, but I don’t like it. I now have three light sources competing for attention, and my eye doesn’t know where to look first. The painting has become very busy, a jumbled mess of elements.
I give up! This one is toast! Bye, bye, ugliness. I’m going to do another one, this time in daylight, like the reference. That way I can just “copy” the reference photo without making any big changes, and breeze right through it.
I won’t bore you with the gory details, but I got this far, and decided to toss it. I’m reminded of sticks of butter capped by Pepto Bismol. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
And why does my tower always insist on leaning? I try so hard to keep it vertical, yet not matter what I do, it leans to the right.
By now it’s Wednesday afternoon, and the deadline to submit this to Karin’s blog is tonight. In desperation, I turn back to the original painting, thinking if I just crop it, I might be able to salvage something by getting rid of one of those light sources. Cropping is easy, because I haven’t mounted the paper to the panel yet.
Maybe this:
Or this:
Hmmm…
I actually like both of those! Maybe the individual elements didn’t suck as much as the jumbled whole.
Maybe I will still crop it so I’ll have something to sell, but for now, I need to get something sent to Karin ASAP. So, after much indecision, I’m going with the original version. Which is like going on a two week vacation and returning home exhausted, poorer, but a little wiser. And that’s what painting is about, right? Learning a little something every time so that the next one will be better.
(Cue Lindsay Buckingham “Holiday Road.” God, I love this song! Did you see Linday’s recent solo tour? He’s still got it!)
Lesley Spanos
Lesley Spanos is a painter working in Indiana, USA.Translator
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Lesley, Thanks for sharing the journey. For what it’s worth, I really like your underpainting too. I also like your final piece. An interesting direction to go from the image posted. This was my first time participating in the DSFDF challenge. Great sky, and separately, i like the lights but I agree that they seem to competing for attention. Still, overall, great job from a fellow artist that doesn’t know when to say when.
WOW!!! Excellent job, Leslie! I LOVE it! Well both, actually, but the evening scene stands out! It has a wonderful mood to it – it looks cozy inside it. Well done!
Great painting, the mood and the clouds and the lighting form within the house all combine to make it beautiful!
Wow, Leslie. This one stopped me in my tracks. Just stunning. Actually, I like both of them, but the night scene just knocks my socks off. Fantastic!
Leslie, thank you so much for showing us your process. The painting is just amazing, and even more enlightening is that such a gifted painter can go through so much angst!
Lesley – Wonderful work, both pieces. “Night” is definitely my favorite of the two. Yes it is busy but in a good way. It holds my interest, is dramatic and it doesn’t bother me that there are three light sources (the window with the curtain open a crack is my focal point). I’m a firm believer in breaking the rules when the inspiration brings a vision forward. Love it!
WOW, Leslie! Great job…thanks for sharing the process. Always good to see the struggle…
Leslie, I like the scary athmosphere of your painting.What is going to happen?
Your sky is beutiful, great!
Leslie, I Love the night one the sky and the moon are amazing, your overhaul mood is great. those lights in the windows etc… Everything is wonderful. I’m so glad you posted this one.
Oh my. I feel like I hit the jackpot. An awesome painting and your in progress process. Your mastery of form and color are exquisite. *sigh*
Lesley, If misery loves company i’m glad I wasn’t the only one to paint this twice and stuggle with both!! Although I really like your final version and can’t say the same about mine… oh well. Also I’ve been meaning to email for your address if you’d like your portrait.. sorry it has taken me so long to get to it!
Really love your nocturnal with the accentuated gorgeous colors!
I agree that your acrylic under toning was beautiful and possessed a lovely glow. A painting on it’s own. I have painted past that point myself any times, so I know where you’re coming from.
Well, I guess we are our own worst critics…I love this piece. I hate add to your indecision, but some of those crops are nice too!
Thanks so much for all of your comments. You’re all amazing painters, and it’s so helpful to get your take on this one. I struggled so much with this one I can’t “see” it anymore. Which I guess is what Karin was trying to get across in her post two weeks ago.
Lesley, your work is very very beautiful! Original view. I love this so much. Your interpretation is my preferred one.
I really like how you’ve set up your page to show both a close up and the full paintings. I was also very taken by your wonderfully moody take on the latest DSFDF; quite exquisite.
Hi Lesley, scrolling through all of the entries of the latest DSFDF, your painting, most definately, is one that stands out! Well done!! Cheers Joá
Wow…cool process. Love the commentary, even if you were pulling your hair out. Part of the process, right? Really great. I love it!!