Day 45: Did I Do That?

Day 45: Did I Do That?

With the rain on a real roll here in Rome these last few days I took the chance to paint one of my favorite subjects, an interior.

 

Breakfast for One, Morning at the Table  8×6″Oil on Panel© Kelly Medford SOLD

 

I’ve been picturing this painting for awhile and was excited by the chance to paint it. I arranged and rearranged and then moved some things around some more before I got down to it. Being dark inside I had to paint under artificial light. I’m really not experienced with painting in these conditions so when I took my painting to the window to have a look, I was almost shocked by the color scheme. It looked completely different under the lamp light. I love this element of surprise, just like painting a nocturne, I never really know how it came out until I get the painting into the light of day.

And this painting is different too, not just for the colors, but also for the abstract and simplified shapes. I like this painting, it seems to be going somewhere, to offer something new.

I was just wondering though, did I do that?

That might seem like a funny thing to say, but sometimes it happens. I get to the end of a painting and it’s not at all what I expected. Envisioning the painting before touching a brush to the canvas is an essential part of the process. In fact when I have a hard time picturing what I want the final painting to look like- the composition, the light and dark shapes, then it usually amounts to a dud. Not to say that every painting I can envision beforehand is a keeper, but it does increase the chances of success.Then, like today though, there are these surprises. I actually couldn’t have envisioned this one in the way that it was painted. How did that happen? I’m not really sure. What do you think?