Fixing paintings

I’ve been looking at canvases I’ve already painted. We talked before about paintings that turned out badly. Sometime I look at them and see that there is nothing that could be done to save them.

But others I look at and I see that I could do something now to save them that maybe I didn’t know how to do back then.

So I’ve been fixing my bad paintings.

It’s easy to do now, because the paint has dried.

The only challenge I’ve faced is when the dried paint has texture, and I want to smooth something over the top of it.

But overall it has become another exercise in the process of learning that I have more than one chance to get things right. And I’ve been really thrilled because some of the “bad” paintings I’ve done have turned out to be my favorites after I’ve fixed them.

And I must say that the difference is very encouraging when I see it. That goes for paintings that I try a second time. I like to see the progress I’m making.

I’m learning many new things about painting. Because I started with Bob Ross, the style of painting I’ve learned is basically “alla prima” which means painting a picture start to finish in one sitting. The way Bob Ross paints, with his “liquid white” base coat, means that when I go back to fix something, I don’t have that “wet” sense to the painting, and that has been one aspect of fixing a painting that has been challenging.

But “alla prima” isn’t the only way I want to paint. I’m learning every way I can. I am still working on my self-portrait, and I hope to have that up soon.

In the meantime, here’s a painting that I did before, and took another shot at: