Sunday, March 15, 2015

Retro Auto

This 7x7 acrylic painting was done from an old black and white photo.  I was trying to break through my reluctance to put down bold brushstrokes and leave them alone, and I failed in that goal, still allowing myself to fiddle and fuss and mess it up, though I intend to keep working at this approach in hopes that old dogs can learn new tricks.

Thinking that maybe a tight time limit might induce me to leave things alone, I tried this next one of my grandfather from an old harsh black and white:

It was slightly more successful, if only as a caricature, and it did capture an essence of Papa, who tended to look like an angry old Scot most of the time (but maybe not as scary as this ax-murderer!)

2 comments:

BlueHwyGal said...

I love your comments, Mitch, about leaving brushstrokes alone - what a struggle that is! Restraint was never my strength. I find that having several projects going at once at least allows some paint to dry....
- Lissa W.

Mitch said...

For me, it's a work in progress. So far my determination is still winning out over despair. Thanks for the comment.