Feeling dragged way down by the side-effects of vaccination this weekend, I decided to revisit an earlier work, rather than make something from scratch. Challenges here were to pick my own colors and to force myself to accept visible brush strokes. Each was a journey.
Pushing myself off the color sampling training wheels has been a long journey, since I first started using Procreate. I think I have said this before; Krita has a color picker tool, but I always found the real colors disappointing next to my own selections. Those early paintings have a vibrancy to them my later works lack. The brain lies about color, and I struggle with the line between the (photographic) reality and my perception of it. This painting was more in line with my Krita work — winging it on the picking and revising until it felt right. I even finally made use of a technical blend layer to imbue some more red hues in areas.
I’m reasonably content with the visibility of the brush strokes here. I did not try to hide the technique at all this time, which feels like progress. I think my drive for accuracy was pushing me to use finer tipped brushes than I should. I kept finding that the broader, bolder a brush stroke was, the more acceptable it felt. That requires more care with placement and brush control than I usually employ. It’s the same challenge as drawing with clean lines. Confidence makes all the difference. That confidence is growing in me, but still has a long way to go.
I’m pretty happy with this painting, and feel like I achieved both goals. People keep suggesting I revisit early works to see progress. I may do more of them.
