Bristlecone Pine

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10x8", oil on board


I think I'm ready to call it quits with this painting. Working from photos--I probably just shouldn't do it. One of my professors told me that a long long time ago, and he was probably more than right, but for some reason I keep coming back to it. And why? Convenience. It's so much easier to be able to hang around in the corner painting after the kids are in bed than arranging for some way for them to be occupied or cared for while I paint outside on location :P And sometimes I get tired of painting still life (which usually ends up being piece of fruit I have around the kitchen). But painting from life leads to much better decision making, and it's worth avoiding the frustration of trying to translate a photo into paint. Anyway, I think the color is alright (though it does seem a little hyper saturated in this photo). What really gets lost, I think, is the freshness of approach. For some reason, the immediacy of having the thing in front of me helps me avoid that finicky touch that tends to show up when I'm working from a photo. And the values. Getting the values right from a photo is just really difficult because the camera clips so much information.

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