The days have been a little warmer and the trees are so close to budding out, but they are not there yet. The thought of painting another grey dormant landscape is taking its toll. Another week of rain is predicted and I am feeling a little uninspired.
A wonderful artist/teacher/friend suggested I take a break from "recording the natural history descriptions" and instead concentrate on black and white - using 3-4 values only, painting more graphic statements and finding a way to harmonize these shapes.
To say this was a stretch was an understatement. I love doing value studies and I think it is such an important exercise, but I have never simplified them to this level. Fighting details and the problem of overstating them is a battle I fight every time I go out. I really struggled the first few days but then I realized how much more in tune I was with the compositional elements and the way strong values affect them.
I stayed with this exercise for 7 days, definitely no "pretty little paintings" here. I feel like I can now go back out with a fresh set of eyes.
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