Fiddling

I was too lazy and disorganized today to work on my big painting--I'm putting it down to discombobulation at the time change! (I don't know why one hour makes such a difference, but it does!) But along about 4:00, I wearied of reading and decided to paint for a while. I had done the under wash for this painting months ago and had never gone back to it, so I decided to try to be fast and loose and knock it out in one hour.

This is a dovecote from a photo I took last year in St. Loup Lamaire (France), and I had watched Jane Minter, our teacher at Bandouille, do a demo painting of this from a photo of hers. While I didn't want to copy her, I must confess that I did look back at hers to see how she interpreted it. Mine turned out more realistic but less skillful.

Parts I like (the light and shadows on the dovecote); parts (the foliage) are a muddy mess. There were areas about which I was indecisive about how I wanted to proceed, and those poor decisions made this a less pleasing painting. But I like this process of under wash that still gives the lightest lights a slight tint. I will try more like this, on a day when I can plan better and take more time.