…try, try again!

After a good many attempts at this subject, I decided to call it “Mohn 2” A little play on words with the german name for “poppy”. “Mohn” which is pronounced a lot like the english word “Moan”. Something I did constantly while working on this pastel painting. Although I am quite pleased with the result now, it went through a number of awkward and less than beautiful stages.

I began with a study on less valuable and less sanded paper, which was more trouble that it was worth in the end. I had to use a fixative 3 or 4 times in between, because I kept filling the tooth of the paper with the very soft pastels and gave me problems with the layering process.

I got to the point that I was getting a bit frustrated, so I walked away and decided to come back to it the next day, with fresh eyes. I consoled myself with the fact that I had never done it before and I own LOTS of supplies to give it another whirl should it end in disaster! : )

After a number of do-overs I have arrived at the same conclusion once again. It is all about refining and not skipping any steps in the process from A to Z. It is about becoming better at the process itself and not imitating the last result.

If at first we don’t succeed, try, try again! I would like to send many thanks to Karen Margulis for her generous online tutorials.

Thank you all for stopping by!

Stempelwalküre, Cynthia