Sometimes I Just Have to Walk Away and Call It Done

"In Foggy Sunlight," 10 1/2 x 14 inches pastel painting on BFK Rives paper.

Off and on for an hour in the studio. First, I wiped off the lower half to do all the shadows over. Ugh, I hate wasting so much pastel! Then I laid in the grass color with a yellow green and yellow. I added purple to the distant mountains and under the shadows.

The sunlight streaks were such a challenge! I love doing fog, but this one got the better of me. I washed my hands a few times… every time I tried to work with the sunlight streaks. But I continued to struggle with this painting.

I worked and worked and went over and over it. I’m at a loss on how to make it better, and I’m fighting off orneriness. I so wanted to like this, do a good job. It’s just OK. In the end, I went over the sky with white, then defined the tops of the of the trees to lay in front of the sky.

I’m giving up. I have to move on to other paintings. I’m sorry, Toni. I so wanted to honor the photo she gave me permission to use as inspiration.