Satisfied Yesterday, Not Satisfied Today, Kept Going

This morning shoveling 4 inches of newly fallen snow took precedence over painting. Deer tracks meandered along the brook. I took photos once the deck was cleaned off.

The snow lay in puffy mounds over rocks and ice in the brook. The edges of the ice cliffs showing below the snow look like teeth biting at the water or chandelier crystals. I waited for the sun to light up the crystals, but there are too many trees. The water is now about 6 inches lower than the ice layer and gurgles and ripples.

I managed to get in the studio after a short rest and warm-up after the stint outside in the frigid air. I always think the painting will get easier with each one, but no; each picture presents its own challenges. Maybe I’m just too fussy.

Today I was discouraged with yesterday’s work. The other day someone suggested I add peach and then I read that the right color peach makes all the difference. I don’t think I have the right color peach and when I went to the Blick website … peach is not a color name used in pastels. (I think I’ll have to bring my trays of pastels to the computer so I can compare what I have to what’s available.)

Close up view of "Mountain Sunset"

For today, I ended up wiping the entire horizon of the mountains and below and starting over. Gosh, I feel I waste so much pastel, and I’ve rubbed the paper so much … I considered giving up but kept going. This painting keeps talking to me.

Photo taken from 5 feet away.

It wasn’t until I started adding the foreground trees that I finally felt relief. The scene was coming together! I went back over smoothing/blurring lines instead of having sharper spaces. I haven’t signed it yet, but I’m thinking … I’ll have to look at it for a couple of days. I’m sure there will be a couple of places to touch up.

I made an appointment to drop off four paintings for matting and framing next week. I want this one to be one of the four.

But I’m ready to move on to another.