by george I think she's got it!

I'm allowing myself two things I love today-painting and writing. The above pic is a detail of an acrylic painting I finished today. I decided that if I could not accomplish a portrait that I felt was truly strong in acrylic I'd go back to pencils. There are many reasons why that's not a good idea if I still dream of getting work in a gallery. Pretty much 90% of artists who show work are painters. Artists who work in dry media only have to be exceptional. Not that I'm not, but just about 8 years worth of rejection from CPSA (Colored Pencil Society of America) did not help my confidence. And I admit that while I do good pencil work, I'm not one of the best. I know CP artists in our area, one in particular, who are exceptional. Fine art is so competitive a discipline, one must truly be honest with oneself. Chuckle.

It was hard stretching paper today. I wanted to paint, but not to have another picture that was uneven, ok but not really good, or just blah even if it was good. I'm grateful for people and things that inspire me. I got that on Sunday. And in my reading recently. Really the hardest part of being an artist is finding out who you are and being that person in paint, pencils, whatever...I know what influences I like, I know what I would make myself into if I could-but my college painting instructor always said be the best version of yourself that you can. So hopefully this is it!