With Spring (seemingly) on the way, I was inspired to paint something with flowers over the weekend. And since I'm drawn to poppies a lot, I decided to do another poppy painting, but do it a little differently than I'd normally do. I wanted to create some texture, so this time I used some modeling paste on the canvas to give my Red Poppy a bit more dimension. AND, I decided I was going to paint a bit more loosely and not be so obsessed with perfect lines and edges. So this was the result.
I've used acrylics here, plus paint pens and a wee bit of Pitt artist pen too, and of course the modeling paste just to give the poppy the texture and dimension I was looking for.
At first I was not loving this. At. All. I get so muddled down in details and making sure everything looks perfect sometimes. So it was a real challenge to paint more loosely and not worry so much. I actually hated this at one point and wanted to start over! But just at the point that I was about to give up--I kept going and within a few minutes I could see it becoming what I wanted it to be. And guess what? Now I love it! So much so that I think this will get hung at the farm house when the Hubs and I move (hopefully later this year).
Even though this painting challenged me and pretty much made me hate it at one point, it also taught me some valuable lessons in patience and perseverance. I'm glad I didn't give up! Just imagine if Vincent van Gogh had given up on A Starry Night! You have to keep going. :)