2:10 pm: i continued work on july 7 creek this morning, all the while casting glances at this 2020 creek watercolor. that’s because i find it’s a great example of how painting plein air allows me to focus on what matters, with no time to dilly dally. as a result, a unique balance is achieved, difficult to repeat in the studio setting. this one is a rare example of compositional and coloristic perfection, and thus can serve as a role model, as it were, for what i’m attempting here in my studio.
so is what i did today in the studio up to these high standards? maybe. without copying what i achieved in the 2020 watercolor, i believe i accesed the immediacy of strokes and the elimination of the unnecessary and merely descriptive. i can’t sustain this other worldly space for more than a few hours, at most.
and the trick is, as those of you who follow my blog are aware: knowing or better yet sensing when to stop. when i’m sitting on my little 3 legged stool next to the creek, that sensing is a lot easier & happens more naturally.
not unlike making love, there is a point beyond which there are diminishing returns.
2020 creek watercolor, painted in late summer, on site
july 7 creek as it looked at the end of my painting day today