This is a painting that I posted a week or so ago. I decided to tone down the background after fresher eyes had advised me. I am always open to hearing the opinions of others. I am not unduly influenced by any one person and make up my own mind about the advice. I do think it is valuable for me to hear honest feedback from the public. I can loose perspective after looking at a painting for a long time. My husband, who is not an artist, is getting very, very good at critiquing. He has learned what to look for.
I think the skin tone is much richer looking now and it was a good decision. I entered it into the Rocky Mountain National. I will have to wait and see if it made the cut.
I had a stack of competition entry forms on my desk that I finally made some decisions on. One was the 50/50 Sanchez Art Center show in Pacifica. I didn't feel very motivated this year but finally thought of an theme for the 50 paintings and entered today. The deadline to enter is May 23rd. I had a very complicated idea to create abstracts using simple geometric shapes of 3 squares, 2 lines and one circle and use the elements of design to create 50 variations. It seemed like more work than I have time for so gave up on it for now. I still think it has merit. Anyway, I decided on watercolor portraits of children. If I get in, I will be soliciting images from anybody who would like me to do a portrait of a family member as a small child or infant. The person doesn't have to be a child now. There will be no obligation to purchase the painting but that is the hope, of course. This idea may not be innovative enough for the judge, so I'm not sure of getting into the show. I will let everyone know the outcome as soon as I hear.
