"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh
These are some of the first flowers I ever painted. At the time, I thought they weren’t half bad. When you start from a place of raw, unrefined effort, the measure of success is different. The success is being brave enough to start.
Watercolors, 2017
Starting from the bottom, a place where expectations are modest, the landscape for growth is huge. There’s more room to improve, more spaces to move forward. When you start with limited skills, every small improvement is noticeable and significant.
A year later – I jump over to acrylics. You can tell I was on to something here, dark values, highlights, the composition of the flowers. Little did I know how far I would take this.
Acrylics, 2018
A year later – I step back from painting so that I can teach myself to draw. Still a long way to go but things are getting crisper with more details.
Pencil, 2019
A year later – the leap to oils. I followed a tutorial in a book I found at Michaels. Step by step I followed the instructions. I was head over heels in love. I had done it. I painted a decent painting with oils – something I thought I would never be able to do.
Oils, 2020
A year later – Things are getting more realistic and my style is starting to come together.
Oils, 2021
Two years later - I look at this piece and I think of all the paintings it took me to get here. Practice Makes Progress.
Oils, 2023
Happy Painting!
Anna
Comments