Every now and then, I do a painting that I love.
At least, I loved it at the time.
Such is the case with the painting on this page. I painted this scene in 2016, using a cell phone video as reference. It’s on a large canvas, 24″ X 36″, which is larger than I usually work. I painted it because I needed a ‘Wow Piece” for a show; something that would catch a person’s eye and drag them into my booth.
It worked. The simple light and dark colors worked together to create a sweeping and swirling composition that did, in fact, attract attention. I never expected it to sell, at least not right away. To my surprise, two people seemed interested in buying it, though they ultimately did not.
When the painting wasn’t on display, it was on my dining room wall, where I had to look at it day after day. Soon, my mistakes started becoming more and more obvious.
When I painted it, I worked almost exclusively with palette knives. The texture was great! The movement in the waves is awesome! But the perspective is off a bit. The middle, between the building wave and the crashing wave, is empty and boring. I probably worked too fast.
Over the last few years, I’ve look at this piece and told myself “I can do better.” Then, “I should’ve done better.”
Finally I told myself “I am going to make that better!”
You see, I have an Art Stroll event coming up in June. I need a Wow Piece. This is going to be it!
