Pelican Painting– When All Else Fails, Paint a Pelican- Day 22
Blue Pelican, 8×8, oil on gessoboard
Today I set out to paint something completely different– a mother/child image that thirty minutes in was a complete failure. I stayed with it for longer than I should have and finally abandoned the panel all together in favor of this one. When all else fails, paint a pelican. What I love and hate about painting small and frequently is that I can abandon something one day and pick it up the next. I feel the simultaneous freedom to quit and the burdensome obligation to pick it back up again. My plan is to revisit what I started today, see if tomorrow can shed a new light on it and somehow save it.
When all else fails, paint a pelican. But this one fought with me. Constantly. The background started out hot pink. I used a palette knife, wiped the texture away with a brush. Mixed more orange. Covered it with white. Signed it. Painted over the signature, added yellow. It was exhausting, and I’m not sure I’ll know how I feel until I look at it again tomorrow with fresh eyes. I can see the fight in it– the layers, the textures.
Denise Hopkins
April 22, 2014
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