Returning to a Painting

(C) 2018 Dale DiMauro

This is a painting I started a long time ago, at this point. The background was unresolved and critical areas of the boat needed to be completed. It can be daunting to paint a pure red stripe across the middle of your painting and not mess it up.

Recently, when returning to this painting, I realized I am a different painter than I was. I use a broader palette of pigments and for example, seldom use green straight out of the tube. Greens that I mix from my palette provide a fresh, less artificial looking pigment. Jumping back and forth from different size paintings has become more fluid, too. In addition, my drawing ability has improved or at least I pick up on things that don't seem correct in conveying a perspective or attaining better facial proportions. 

Once I got started again on this painting, inspiration kicked in and I could see where to go with it. In addition to the background, I sought to develop more of the human form, in the paddler and exaggerated the artificial color of the boat.

As a footnote, I will not be publishing a post on Wednesday. My wife and I will be on a short trip to Philadelphia and we will be traveling as light as possible. When we return I am sure there will be rich sources to post about from this trip.