Water and Oil

• I've set for myself a personal goal of 30 small (5x7" to 8 x10") oil paintings by the end of June in order to get myself to relax and just PAINT, trying to loosely block them in and just go for it. No worries, right? Seven and a half paintings in, "relaxed" would not be a word I'd use to describe myself. The first few were moderately successful and I have high hopes for the landscape (yes that green painting is a landscape) whenever I decide to return to it. The last oil I worked on, the amaryllis plant on 5/12, showed me why I can not work from photo reference, at least not for what I'm trying to accomplish. The half-way point for that painting just looks forced and awkward (Another fault is that I increased the surface to 11x14"). Shortly after that debacle, I decided to take a break from oils (for at least a week) and focus on watercolors. Lo and behold, a relaxed work that is successful in my eyes. I think I'll stick with these little watercolors for awhile and see where they take me.