If you paint a picture twice, the second one will be the best. If you paint a picture three times, the third one will be the best. If you paint a picture four times, the fourth one will be the best.
Yes I've been painting today, with not particularly satisfactory results to my hypercritical eye. It is a challenging portrait of a silent film star because of the blurry black and white photograph. I really should learn more about faces before tackling such a complex subject as a portrait from a tiny photo that lacks any visible details from which to copy. I've painted it for this year's Marbury Merry Day weekend in Marbury, which takes place in May. As such this is a commercial painting and so, as penance and to indicate artistic flair, I will paint a fantasticalised version of the same picture to hang next to it, although it will be a challenge with such a simple and obvious portrait.
In other news, I've just been browsing a website called digital blasphemy which includes some ultrapretty computer generated imagery. It made me wonder how useful computer imagery really is to the painter because space-scapes often look brilliant on a computer screen, and in real life, but usually look flat and ugly when painted. Wondering aside though, it was good to wonder at the wonderful images while wandering though the beautiful gallery on there.
