Finished with My Second Painting!

 

I finally finished my second painting, and I am much happier with it than I thought I would be. I still have a love hate relationship with this glazing technique. I like the results but the process is very tedious and slow. I could see myself using it in future paintings, but maybe not across the whole composition since it is so time consuming. I do like that glazing makes the painting look completely different depending on how close you stand to it. When you stand up close, you can see the individual colors that have been thinly layered over one another, but when you stand far away, those layers are optically mixed to make a more neutralized color and create the illusion of an underwater effect. 

I was really nervous while trying to get this painting finished. I was worried it wouldn't get done, I was in the studio late, I was sleep deprived, and I was nervous about our critique the next day. For those you who have never taken an art class, critiques are when you share your finished work with the class and the professor so that you can get feedback. Your will hear about everything you did well, but also where you can improve. Feedback is supposed to be constructive, and while everyone typically remains polite it can still be a nerve-racking experience. This is especially true when you cannot fix the problems pointed out to you in the current project, and can only take that knowledge with you going forward. However, this critique went surprisingly well and actually made me feel more positive about the painting than I had before. Sometimes after looking at your own work for hours on end you become your own worst critic, and critiques can give you a refreshing perspective on your artwork after seeing it through the eyes of others.