Up a ladder

My previous three paintings all left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied, though each of them had parts I liked. I felt like I was repeating the same stuff and making the same marks again and again. Part of me wondered if I'd taken this interest far enough or a break..?

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But practice is essential, even or especially with the mistakes! Without dwelling on it, I was carrying on. This day, I was sure I would start in good time but, entirely my own fault, I started even later than usual. I consoled myself in saying I could just do an hour and pick it up another time. Funny the conversations we have in our heads, the compromises and negotiations we make!

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After painting the week before, I had no idea which subject I would paint next. I'd found myself up a ladder, cutting back ivy from a high wall outside the Quaker Burial Ground Wildlife and Community Orchard. Then, when I saw my partner's photo, I knew that was it. The composition struck me of the sky, the ivy, the wall and my big size 9s! Taking five minutes to study the image, I wondered, I do choose difficult challenges. Usually, we look at things and people on the same level or downwards or towards a skyline. This showed a view looking up a ladder at 45 degrees. I have to paint that, I'd thought on first seeing the photo. But how..? The angles were all askew. I still mentally divided the A3 paper, placed pictorially on the easel, into three equal-ish bands, and started with the grounding, a mix of cereleum blue and mixing white with a touch of sap green.

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I built up with the wall, the sky, the greenery and...then, I noticed the time. It was 12.26. Oh, dear! I was beginning to feel hungry and a little tired. I could just finish it off, the most difficult and important part of the painting, that is, me and the ladder quickly in a few minutes. Get it done! Why not? Go on! Yet, I was pleased with how it had gone so far, particularly the vibrant red-orange of the brick wall and the green/blue of the ivy and sky. One time, I had noticed how my partner, who is also an artist, covered her paints under a perspex lid in-between sessions to stop them drying out.

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Lunchtime! I took down the largest plastic bowl I have and put it over my palette. Forty minutes later, I was back at it, refreshed. And I had learned something. Whereas before, I was rushing to finish a work before 1pm, just wanting to get it done, this time a little voice reminded me to paint in layers, build it up. I didn't, indeed, couldn't achieve the effect I wanted in one go! Simple, ay?

And what emerged is beautiful! So colourful! I love it! And it makes me smile. It makes me feel good. And that is a good reason for painting. Keep going!