I have been asked to paint some wild ducks, but without the usual background and complete with feet. My natural inclination is usually to paint half a something and have nice wishy-washy backgrounds so this was going to be a challenge.
I started off simply:
And though there were some parts I liked, I wanted contrast between the hard beak, reptilean legs and feet and the feathers. So I did this one:
It was closer to what I wanted, but I would prefer it to be looser. So I did another and forgot I wasn’t mean to be doing any background:
So the moral of this tale is that sometimes painting the same thing over and over is good for you. Usually I don’t have the time or inclination, but it is good to learn from your own mistakes. Wouldn’t it be lovely to be able to paint everyday, without pressure to produce a specific-something and just for the fun of painting? Just think what progress you could make. Oh well, dream on…
