More drawing and painting...

Well I have completed the four week program for watercolor painting. I have mixed feelings about this new endeavor of mine.

I started out feeling very good about painting again. My first effort wasn't bad and I really enjoyed putting brush to paper. Unfortunately, I developed great expectations and have fallen a bit short with some of them.

The next painting I finished was Boat on the Beach as pictured below.

It was an incredible challenge to get the water looking like water washing on the shore. It looks better than when I started, but still does not look as good as I desperately tried to illustrate. I am very happy with the boat, however. Believe it or not, I took this photo five years ago while walking on the beach in Punta Cana. I absolutely loved the image and said I would paint it some day.

The next project (challenge) I gave myself was of my beloved dog Louie. It is a view I have witnessed many times while we drive fifty miles to our cabin at Rushford Lake. I love his profile and his many expressions on this long journey. This is Driving to the Lake.

I am very happy with Louie's portrait but struggled a great deal with the rest. The car parts and interiors were all browns and blacks (even the sweatshirt my hubby is wearing was grey). So to give the painting some life I decided to colorize things... it turned out OK to me. I don't know if there is a rust colored interior available in any car on the market today, but, there is now! (I may have to add a darker shade of rusty red, still thinking about it). Are some paintings destined to be worked on forever?

The one thing I can acknowledge is that I can still draw with a pencil and eraser. I was very concerned about my hand skills because I have been working with a mouse for many, many years. I am happy to have discovered that I can!

Although I have struggled with this new chapter of art and design, I do so love (and hate) the challenge! I am continuing with the next session of classes in the hope of reaching my expectations one day.

Please tell me your thoughts, I would love to hear your opinions. 

And again, thank you for stopping by!