Inadequacy is the mother of invention

I thought to use my collection of lotus photos as teaching material, as a means of applying traditional brush techniques to a composition that was not derived from rote.

And I found another photo that I liked, 

and I happened to have some scraps of cicada skin Xuan handy, so I just grabbed a piece and started to paint on it. The translucent paper exudes an entirely different persona.

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Upon examining the initial photograph and subsequent painting, as well as my second attempt, I became dissatisfied with the visual clutter of the paper.  This clutter was not due to an excessive number of objects, but rather the uniformity of values among all the characters in the painting, resulting in a flat and prosaic appearance.

Perhaps I should have anticipated the inclusion of blurred backgrounds to enhance depth perception, akin to the concept of bokeh in photography.

Alternatively, I could have painted the leaves with a lighter hue, employing a more diffused technique to simulate distance.  Additionally, I should have distinguished my main character, or protagonist, by making them as clear and vivid as possible, while allowing the supporting cast to gradually fade into the background.

I could experiment with this theory on my current painting, the one depicted on the cicada skin Xuan. However, I was uncertain whether my sloppy techniques would be sufficient to achieve the desired effect.

In a moment of inspiration, I considered the possibility of superimposing the translucent Xuan onto the other layer of paper. This technique would result in the objects on the second layer being muted by the top layer.

It looked wicked.  I was all for it!

I went ahead and mounted my two pieces together.  When the papers were wet, they were almost transparent, allowing everything to show through from under the papers. 

Opacity was restored after the papers dried.

The painting on the bottom was now quite subdued, contrasting with the one on top.  Layers in Photoshop must have been invented this way!

But then I realized one of the petals was washed out in the mounting process.  I must have loaded too much undiluted color onto my brush while I was painting the blossom.

Worry not, a little clever cropping could save my project. 

It was all in the packaging.  Now my painting had a lot of objects in it but didn't feel too busy for me.

I was able to cheat.

Mission accomplished.  Inadequacy is the mother of invention. 

Hero's Journey continued

Now that we have witnessed the Ball Drop in Times Square, and the Potato Drop in Boise Idaho, we should be working on our new resolutions.  I belong to the camp that not having a new year's resolution is the right thing to do; one less area to fail and promises not kept.

I removed all the books and stationary covering my Hero's Journey painting which I started towards the end of last year, and prepared to continue my journey.

I left 4 dancers on my Xuan when I said goodbye to 2019, and I wanted to increase the size of the dance troupe.  What I had dreamt up was that each member represented different stages in my Hero's Journey, thus the various poses implied difference circumstances and paths in life.  Obviously I hope the congregate assembly of these dancers could compose or depict the process of life, as demonstrated by their movements.

I decided to add 3 more dancers to the left margin.  Their relatively stationary poses perhaps symbolized the embryonic stages of the journey, where there were musings and preparations.  These dancers were waiting for the right moment to be swooped up in the gravity defying grand jete, or an extravagant arabesque.  As their preparations in life matures, they excecute.

I debated on whether to add more dancers to my painting at this point.  I decided against it as I was worried about crowding.

For reasons that are still unbeknownst to me, I started to paint some streaks on the bottom of the painting.  I hated it.  It appeared as if I was trying to create a landscape for my dancers.

I sensed that I had mucked up my painting.  I suppose one way to redeem it was to paint in stripes

to simulate a ribbon effect.

The observant viewer could see little specks of color in the painting.  Those are the results of past bleed through on my wool under pad.  As the paper becomes wet, it extracted whatever was left in the pad.  This is a problem that I encounter all the time, especially when shampooing my carpet.

Fragments of pigment or dried up ink crust would fall onto the carpeting and be obscured by the piles.  Upon contact with the wet shampoo solution they dissolved and stain the carpeting.  I've learnt my lesson and mandate myself to do a thorough vacuuming first before shampooing.

In hind sight I should have left the painting alone because I am not pleased with the ribbons.  I think they distract from the story and render the piece rather prosaic.  I prefer the native color of the paper better.

Well, there's always the next stop, as the journey continues.  I'm not ready for my coda