Getting Better

I often wonder if I actually get better at this. I rarely, if ever, paint the same thing twice, so it is difficult to tell whether or not my skills are improving. What I think I have gotten better at is “seeing.” Michael (my instructor), from the beginning said I needed to slow down, I think he spent most of my early time with him saying this. Slow down and look, look more than you draw/paint. I think I have done this. I’m surprised by what I see sometimes, things that I didn’t see before. Translating that to the canvas, of course, is another story. There are some things in paintings that I have repeated and that have shown me that I am improving. The two paintings below, I did about a year apart, in between I did the portraits you saw in my last post.

It just seems like the cement finial (ball) is better, more “natural” in the second one, than in the first.

In the two images below, I also seem to have gotten better at “doing” cloth. These are about 3 years apart. The bottles are another story.

I guess what I want any aspiring painter to know is that it does take time, and intent, but you do get better and it is important that you look more than you draw or paint.