A learning opportunity.

WIP: August

I started this painting back in the UK and only laid down the initial washes. Post 1 is here whilst the picture is right. This week, I opened my paints for the first time in Doha to work on it. I started by adding a darker wash all over the heather, to balance the strong tree line, plus a greater contrast for the sky. Then it took ages to dry, which I knew I had to be patient about. yawn. Today, I went back to it, and it is a failure has become a learning opportunity. It is now too dark, and overworked. Originally I was just trying for an impression of the heath and I have fiddled and faffed with the front and ruined it.

Study 1 aka a failure.

As I said to my friend Sandra, "Before I left UK, my dad & I went to visit the Alfred Munnngs House in Dedham where I was reminded that we do not have to draw/paint a subject once. He had several "studies" of the same topics and unlike some painters he didn't use the studies to change composition, but to work on the colours and techniques" and I suggested to her that a painting that wasn't going too well could be the first study. I think I should take my own advice and leave this a week or so and start again.

Tiptree Heath: a work in progress

Walking Nelson the other day, I loved the colours of the heather on the Heath with it's various shades of purples & violets. Unfortunately, my acrylics are in Italy, so I'm trying to capture it in watercolour. I've started wet-on-wet on unstretched 185gm² Canson's watercolour paper. The trees that line the heather are too strong, but I intend to work up the front later.

BTW I'd love to see how Marian Fortunati would paint this as she does fantastic oil paintings. Check out her work at marianfortunati.com