Wednesday, March 4, 2015

It's Beautiful Outside Today!


Oh my gosh, it is 70 degrees here and sunny.  It's so completely wooonderful ....
This last part of winter here in North Carolina has been endless...

We had 8 inches of snow last week, and I had an extra day off of work so i was able to work on this painting and finish it up which felt so good...

I'd like you to meet "Lily and Estelle"
 - they are friends...



If you think i go into a painting knowing what the hell i am doing - you would be completely wrong!

 Honestly half the time i spend on a painting is fixing what's wrong with it...

 Let me show you all the incarnations of this painting

Below is how it started...

My inspiration was that yummy color of gray blue and the contrast with the black
sometimes i crave painting certain colors




 Ok, so phase two - I  painted in a friend in the background

but after pacing around and looking at it for a while, i decided the background cow was distracting - she just wasn't "it"
so had to wipe out a couple hours worth of work...
that's frustrating!



Next i decided to give just the impression of another cow in the background - 

at first i liked it better, it seemed easier on the eye, less distracting

but then it came to my mind it looked like a big gray male body appendage  ...

if i were talking to a friend in person i would just say it looks like a 
big _ _ _ _  !

but i can't really say that on the blog, you know

and sorry i know that's so crude... but... do you see ?

Of course, once that was in my brain I knew it had to go

you just can't unsee that




Finally this sweet girl wanted to come in for a nuzzle, and she was so cute, but she didn't quite work with the first cow...

 two cute cows, ... 
but didn't look like they should be in the same painting

hmmmm, what to do now?


so even though i liked the cow's black and gray nose, 
I decided to take a risk and blobbed some pink paint on the nose
and 
viola!
it worked!

 now they play together well

phew!

i can't tell you how many times i was ready to just call it an "ok" painting and be done with it


but now i love them both and immediately their names came into my head

"Lily and Estelle"

That's probably more than you ever wanted to know about my backwards painting techniques!

but i wanted to tell you, so you won't be nervous to try painting or just anything
and realize that we all struggle with our work, sometimes we go backwards or come in sideways 
 sometimes we almost give up, and sometimes it's ok to give up if something is pulling your creative force away

the trick is to figure out when to go forward and push through it
or to just let it go...


... the end ...










18 comments:

  1. Your work is stunning, Cindy, and your cows are sweethearts. Loved seeing how you end up with the final painting. Wow, what a lot of work, but you sure know what you're doing!!! Love it so much!

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  2. Oh! I just LOVE these two! You are inspiring- thank you!
    xoxo

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  3. Sweet, beautiful cows. Beautiful painting. Patty/NS

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  4. Cindy - it's Greg - Dude! This is the first painting that has brought tears to my eyes since Moonalisa (which is still hanging over our buffet in the dining room :) Gorgeous, tender, wow! Your final comment in this blog is nothing short of profound - I plan on sharing this with Brent and am sure it will show up in a future sermon. Thank you so much for sharing your gifts and sharing YOU! Miss you!

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  5. Oh, your picture of the cows are amazing, I can almost feel their moist noses. So beautiful! Jo

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  6. I just love reading your posts Cindy, they are so dang honest and that's refreshing!!! You are such a cool person, I bet your man and family just adore you!!! The gray male appendage??? hahahahahaha you had me rolling on the floor. Love the two sweet cows and thanks for showing us the process.

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  7. Every painting you do amazes me but oh how I loved seeing your progress on this one! You are one of the BEST artists I know and that is because you do not think so. Do you know what I mean? The ones who think they are great and toot their horn are not really very good artists. I do believe you should be a full time artist and I hope you will be able to be one day! xxxo

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  8. I find it fascinating to hear your process. It's similar to how I approach a craft paint project. One of these days, you are going to convince me I could try a simple piece of art. I'm so glad you painted over the porn! You are right that you can't unsee what you have seen. I noticed one on the pattern on my kitchen floor tile and it's pretty much in the foreground to me whenever I look at the floor.

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  9. Oh I love what you have done to the painting, the first cow was a little disconnected, by adding the new one and having her touching the other cow it pulls the whole painting together....GENIUS Cindy :). I am still dabbling and trying to resolve a background problem. Is it possible to paint over a 6 month old painting (background) just by using oil and medium only, no thinners? I guess I should be emailing this not posting it as a comment. But I wanted to comment on this painting as it is gorgeous and you are so talented at painting these animals, I wouldn't know where to start unless its got petals :)

    Lee

    Lee

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  10. I love what you came up with with this painting and how you got there! You are so talented!

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  11. First of all, I absolutely adore this painting. But secondly, I LOVE that you shared how it came to be. You inspire me to continue trying! :)
    Lin

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  12. i want to hear it all, mostly because of how you tell it, beautiful. lily and estelle have so much charm. this is really an art lesson for me and so fun to see the layers. isn't it an awesome feeling when you know it's done? i love that feeling when i'm painting. peace to you.

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  13. Cindy my dear friend, it was so nice to read your excitement in how the weather shaped up for you.
    Nothing like beautiful days and a paint brush in hand painting like there are only beautiful days ahead.
    I have told you this before ... Every painting you do becomes my new favorite :)
    I see some great things happening for you, and painting In Your studio as a career will be next on your career move. I best having your home take shape I. How you imagined it to be is a real big inspiration to how your art is coming along :) it's always inspiring to create where the beauty around you inspires a peaceful heart.

    Well, my dear your new piece took on the right kind of rightness when you changed out the cows. It was a perfect move, the hours lost were gained with the beautiful awww inspiring outcome.

    Xoxo

    Doré

    PS. How about you painting some donkey? Brooke over at Velvet and Linen has the mini donkeys and I thought of you when I pictured her donkeys. The French brought the donkeys over to work, they are the ones who made the donkeys such a popular farming animal....you might even think of them as part of French history :))

    Xoxo
    Dore

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  14. Ps.... I forgot to mention I LOVE the farmers tag in her year.... What made you think of the numbers, does those numbers mean something to you ?

    Xoxo
    Dore

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  15. Fascinating to watch it all develop. You are a mega talent. xo

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  16. I so enjoyed your Creative Process and how this Lovely Painting had several incarnations before finally coming together in a way that pleased you. I do that a lot too when I'm Creating things... and I do think that it helps others to realize that even if things don't come together perfectly in initial attempts, adjustments can be made to still Create something you can be Proud of and have an end result that looks more effortless than it actually was. *winks* The Nose Job part of the story just cracked me up... as did the appendage subliminal part *Ha ha ha* ... you are hilarious! Dawn... The Bohemian

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  17. Another beautiful painting. Love your process, but now the image of a ______ is stuck in my head LOL. You crack me up, talented and funny a great combo and a joy to visit. Thanks for checking out my girls!

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  18. I enjoyed seeing the process and love the painting!

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