Abstract Landscape Painter.  Rural Dweller.  Lover of Modernist Art and Design.

12 March

It is grey and damp, but good to be out and about this morning.  We walk past the sheep in their new location in a field on the other side of the village.  They are busy grazing on the stubble of a former crop.  Some are sitting, protected from the drizzle by their warm and oily coats.

All the colours are subdued today - greys, browns and blue/greys.  There is not so much noticeable birdsong either.  Even the garden seems strangely quiet.

I return to working on Millie’s portrait, adjusting fine details on the face.  However, before beginning to paint, I turn the picture upside down and consider it.  Then I right it and look at the reverse image in a mirror.  In this way my brain sees it as something unfamiliar and is forced to work harder.  It makes errors more visible.  I can see that the line of the mouth needs a slight adjustment in length and angle.  As with a human portrait, the merest millimetre of difference to the length or thickness in the line of the mouth will change the picture to one of a very similar individual, but not the actual sitter.  I am always fascinated to see how it is the smallest details that make us us.

I make the appropriate corrections and continue thus, while the rain patters on the roof and the radio mutters to itself in the background.

All text & images ©2018 Carol Saunderson

http://anartistinthelandscape.blogspot.co.uk/