Here It Is

For over a week I’ve been “too busy” to paint. “Too busy”, of course, being a convenient excuse. Finally, today, I pushed myself into it after my husband asked several times, or commented, that is, about “I thought you were going to paint.”

Yes, dear.

So after dinner this afternoon — Hungarian Paprikash Chicken with Creamy Buttered Noodles and Garlic along with a scrumptious green salad – I dutifully donned my old painting clothes and took a deep breath.

The reason for being “too busy”, you can no doubt guess, is that I was so afraid of “messing it up” and totally ruining this first attempt at painting after several years. Indeed, it was with great trepidation and shaking hands that I picked up my brushes, squeezed out some paint, and finished this “Summer Scene 2025”.

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So, folks, there it is. It’s not bad — considering. I’m definitely not happy with the flowers. Yep, those little blobs are supposed to be flowers in bloom. Yet I can’t be too unhappy here. In looking back, I think the last time I painted a landscape was in 2022, so it’s nice to see that I haven’t forgotten everything I’ve learned.

Of course, it’s not a “great composition” — just a very simple landscape scene. That’s how I wanted to get re-acquainted with oil painting. Nothing too difficult. Nothing requiring a great deal of skill. Just something to let me try a few different brushes and brushstrokes.

I used 6 different brushes on this painting:

• #16 Flat
• #16 Round
• #8 Fan
• #7 Round
• #2 Script
• My favorite old “Mop Brush”

I think this landscape painting served its purpose. It got me back into my old painting clothes, gave me a chance to try out my new easel, and gave me a little boost of excitement. I’ve already been looking at reference photos I’ve saved on my computer and thinking, “You know, yeah, maybe I could paint that.”

It’s been an interesting experience, and I think it will take me a while to “shake off” the doubts. I think I’ll always have this thought in the back of my head — maybe I’ll end up ruining it — for whatever I’m working on.

But, if I do “ruin” something? It’s not the end of the world. I have lots of canvases. I have lots of time. I guess that if at first I dont succeed, sure enough, I can try it again.

I’ll do a few things differently on my next landscape painting. I’ll give it a little more thought, sketch the scene on the canvas, think more about the color palette I’ll be using. I think I’m going to enjoy painting again, so I hope you enjoy seeing my work.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.