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Day 52: Practice

October 4, 2012 In Rome

Day 52: Practice

Practice makes perfect? Ha! Obviously it wasn’t an artist who said that.Today as I went into the studio to finish up a commission, I froze.I’d been away from the painting for too long and I wasn’t sure where to start and how to get back into it. Then I had the thought…Why not do a small study as my daily painting?Not only to get back into the painting, but to remember the mood, the drawing, the light, the place and to delve deeper and give myself an idea of what needs fixing and what I can keep.The Old Garden, Pigneto6×8″Oil on Panel© Kelly Medford, 2012Sometimes a fresh start is all we need. Start over (dreaded!) and see what happens.I realized that I can keep going on the commission and it won’t take as much work to finish as I thought. There are some strong parts in the painting that I want to keep and then there are places that I want to go back to rework and finish.This commission is for a lovely bed and breakfast in my neighborhood. I would love to stay here if I didn’t already live nearby. It has a very old garden with the most wonderful and gnarly olive tree and a wood fired pizza oven to boot.Is the goal of practice to perfect something or just to have a better understanding? What is the goal? In painting it seems to be a search. For what, I’m not always sure. To be able to capture a place, a time, a mood and an emotional connection is key. The rest is just practice.You can see today’s painting on my website:http://kellyaskey.fineartstudioonline.com/works/989530/the-old-garde-pignetoSee other paintings from the 120 Day Project:http://kellyaskey.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=13530&subkeyvalue=48556&Page=ViewCollection&displayperpage=9999

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3 Comments

  • Helen K. Beacham Fine Art

    October 5, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    The goal of practice in painting? For me, sometimes it’s to work out a new technique. Sometimes it’s to dissect a particularly complex scene. But mostly it’s so that, before I tackle the next painting, I have added to my glossary of knowledge in my brain, my hand and my heart.

  • Sue Pownall

    October 6, 2012 at 9:05 am

    Good advice. I hope you finished the commission successfully after your study.

  • Kelly Medford

    October 6, 2012 at 11:10 am

    Thank you for your thoughtful comments Helen. Yes, often times practice is to get better, to add to our bag of knowledge (in every sense), so important! and yes, Sue, I did finish up the commission yesterday. Whew, what a relief!