When I took my paintings (and Alissa's photos) to be juried last week, they were judged to be "acceptable" by Bullitt County Arts Council standards. While this beats "below BCAS standards," it's not as good as "excellent," which is, by the way, how Alissa's photos were judged (Hooray for her!!:) While the jurist said that I have potential and should keep painting, (s)he said that my paintings lacked detail and that the frames took away from the look of the paintings. I don't know, but I do know that watercolors do need frames. For the record, I took my last sunset, my thistle, and my Hawaiian beach acrylics, and my flamingo and a sunset silhouette in watercolors. I think they've all been posted at one time or another on the blog. The last won first place in two local contests. The jurist suggested that I take a painting class or two. I couldn't argue with the critique or the recommendation to take some classes, but I probably won't add much detail or take classes because I am happy with the style of my painting, which I consider to be impressionist. I have noticed that my painting has gradually improved since I have been doing it on a more regular basis. I pick up techniques from other painters and some programs on television. At any rate, the evaluation said that it was "possible" that my paintings were good enough to sell in the local gallery. The jurist would definitely accept Alissa's photos, though. We are supposed to get letters, so we'll see the formal results then.
Okay, on to the painting. You can see it is from one of Alissa's photos, and I thought it would be an easy one to add detail to my work. As you can tell, it's okay, but it isn't one of my strongest works, in my opinion. From a distance, it looks great, but close up you can see that I don't have a really steady hand for details. I think I am best at sunsets and silhouettes, so I probably should just stick to what I know. However, I can't get better if I don't try. They are organizing a "guild" of local two-dimension artists, and we are going to meet monthly and try different things. The object is to have a project to paint and then bring it in for critiquing by the rest of the group. I think it will be interesting to see how the same object looks different when painted by different people since everyone has his/her own style. There will also be guest artists who can give us pointers. I am excited about this "guild" and am looking forward to the first meeting in late October. Meanwhile, I'll keep on keeping on at what I'm doing. I'm having fun at it, and life is good!
5 comments:
wow, you are clever, my drawings look like a three year old has done them
Hey, that's great! I really like that you added the cracks in the asphalt :-)
Your guild sounds very cool. I wish we had something like that local to me :-(
If you are having fun and enjoying what you are doing that is what matters the most. I think your paintings are very good and everyone has their own individual style and taste. Someone that likes your painting my not like one done by someone else at all. Keep up the good work. I admire you for doing what you enjoy and staying with it.
Hi Nancy, Gosh what a pernicketty judge, I think your road was brilliant - and to show the cracks was a great touch.... What Judy said was correct though, as long as you gain enjoyment from it you shouldn't let their comments annoy you - but I can certainly understand why it would annoy !!
Hello again! You have an award at my place, should you wish to participate. Thanks, Judy
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