Monday, September 03, 2007

Self Portraits Can Teach

I was lucky enough to get a critique from Jennifer Balkan, my figurative painting teacher this summer, on this self portrait just before turning it into the Austin Figurative Gallery for the Self Portrait Show this past Saturday. She pointed out what I'd wanted to change and I'm so grateful that I finally "got it" about light sources and the power of shapes. It was a realy lightbulb moment for me to finally understand how powerful a composition can be when the viewer understands where the light is coming from. And the more subtle power in a composition that has interesting shapes.
Of course, I didn't get it good enough to create that really well on my canvas or I wouldn't have gotten the comment, more than once, that it had so much more interest when seen in a better light. So, something to work on in my future paintings...don't be so dull!
It was a very interesting show and such a treat to be displaying my work with Austin artists, as I still consider myself an art student.

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