Took a little time this morning and thought about some studio work. I haven't painted a self-portrait in many years. I spent a little time learning how and where to set up my camera tripod and set the timer on my new "point and shoot" camera. The camera has some other features that will be nice to experiment with.
This morning the camera and I focused on ways to use the foggy white/grays of the day. It turns out morning foggy light is very different than noon foggy light. While the morning sky had a lot of pink, the noontime sky went bright at the top and purplish near the ground. I painted a house that was yellow ochre with white trim and fir trees against that sky, and some vivid green grass showing through the snow, and split rail fence. While the interlocking shapes of the foreground against the sky work well (light against dark and dark against light), the composition is static. I think my brushwork is quite nice, but its not enough to convince me this painting is successful. In a day or two, I will reassess. The beauty of oil painting is an artist can stand back and look at her painting, and then go in and make changes.
