Daily Painting

I had some take-aways as I was sketching for the big version (10x12.5) of the thumbnail. I realized that when I watch an online demo of an artist working on a full sheet or a half sheet, on the screen, the paper looks small since it fits on the screen. You really don't know how big it is. The same way, as I view a thumbnail in my sketchbook from 6"-9" away and scrutinize it, a big painting cannot be viewed that way. I understood the importance of distance - like watching TV. You sit back some feet away, more if the screen is bigger. You need to approach the viewing of the large work the same way - it needs to be scaled. Essentially, when you view it from the right distance, it becomes no different than the thumbnail. It still has to work - the value pattern is foremost, the content or subject may not be discernible, and you evaluate it for the darks and lights that draw you in. I was very pleased with the sketch, so pleased that I was afraid to paint and ruin the sketch!

I would say impatience is my biggest vice. From not being able to wait for little things in life, to not waiting quite long enough for layers to dry in watercolor, to wanting to improve by a big leap in watercolor tomorrow, I really am becoming aware of the times I do things hurriedly because of this impatience. I thought I was too impatient with doing multiple tries of the same scene. But I found that if it is the right scene with potential, a winning composition, and I feel I can get it in yet another try, I will keep painting it until I am pleased. Of course, as discovered earlier, multiple iterations help with the essence and help eliminate unnecessary details. In my morning meditation, I thought of the scene of the morning market on Kashmir's Dal Lake in Srinagar. I was very inspired to paint that. I started with a value study, then two color versions (one too dark), and then this that I was very pleased with. It is small. If I were to attempt it larger, I don't know what