Painting #1

On the easel: Saguaros in the San Tan mountains

The first painting of the year is something that I started before the holidays.  Anxious to try my new oils, I quickly went through some photographs and picked this one.  It's a scene from the San Tan mountains not too far from my house.  And I hate it right now, but I'm not going to go there and pick out all the reasons why.  Instead, I will enjoy the process and remember what went wrong with the previous painting.  Improve little by little.  I want to focus on the alla prima method so I'm going to have to set it aside for now and move to the next.  Time to loosen up and have fun with this!

I have been reading "Daily Painting" by Carol Marine these past few days.  I'm going to finish that book and move on to "Alla Prima II" by Richard Schmid.  I'm loving Carol's book because her story is so similar to mine.  It gives me hope.  Probably same level of fine art education, a design career, and at the beginning of her daily painting journey she did so while she was a new mom, painting during her son's naps.  My son won't nap most days anymore, so I have to wait until I put him to bed or paint while he's at preschool.  Carol says she hated her first painting as well.  Wiped the board clean and everything.  I like the daily painting format, painting small and often.  Not getting hung up over perfectionism or procrastination.  So that's what I'm going to do.

What's that saying... "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"?  That's where I am.  Painting 1.  Starting fresh.