Day 40 – Lon Chaney as a Bullfrog on a Watermelon

I don’t normally do requests… unless I’m asked.
–Victor Borge

I occasionally find myself struggling for something to draw/paint. I find no shame in the occasional block. My daily practice has trained my brain to just find something and do it without asking my “editing brain” if it’s a good idea. Or my “choosing brain.” I find it hard to make choices.

So on this day, I asked Facebook At Large to suggest a subject. “Lon Chaney.” The next suggestion, “A Watermelon.” And third, “A bullfrog.” All three are things I could get better at rendering, so I went on a crash course.

I am still trying to figure out this thing called watercolor, and will be for a while. I do enjoy some of the subtleties that are guided by the artist’s hand but some of is left to entropy. Guided entropy, I guess.

The second one, #41, is just a study, an admission that I am not very knowledgeable at that extremely important aspect of illustration: Perspective. The first step it to admit you havea  problem :0).

And #42 is the second in a series. I wanted to create a painting that requires a little warm-up. Part of that is learning how to get certain effects. I’m not entirely happy with the results here, but it’s like going to the gym. You don’t always get results on the first visit. But I know I can.

And you can, too. What are you putting off improving because the first time you tried, you got discouraged from your lack of professional skill on your first try?