Daffy

I realized tonight that one of the most difficult things about posting a picture every day is that sometimes one paints something that one is not proud to show everybody. But the show must go on, and this is a learning experience, right?

5x7 Acrylic on Canvas Board

The reference photo had sunlit daffodils and a bright blue sky with tree branches in the distance. By the time I mixed something close to the yellow in the flowers and applied it over the previous layers of muddy wrong yellow, I saw that the sky was nothing like what I intended it to be. After all, the photo was taken on a bright sunny day. This sky is too dark and gloomy. I understand the theory behind colour mixing, in practice it is much more difficult. I have a lot of colour practice ahead of me, plus my tones were way off. I think part of the problem was that I didn't step back to look at the picture as a whole, I was too focused on the details.

Valuable Lessons Learned Today:

• Back away from your work every so often and look at it from a few feet away. 
• Backlit objects are harder to paint than those lit from the front or side.
• It's only a cheap piece of canvas and an ounce of paint. You'll be better next time and congratulations, you learned something.