Fall gourds

I’m still been keeping an eye on my irises. They have managed to survive a couple of light frosts over the last week and continue to bloom. The colder air seems to slide right down the hill past them and perhaps they will last until we get a hard freeze.  I still have hopes that the buds on the second stalk will flower fully but you never know.  There must be over a dozen buds between the two.  The petunias are also still carrying on.  Such vivid colors so late in the year.  I like it.

Fall vegetables

After a full week of having to do other things, I finally was able to get back into the studio and work on the painting yesterday. Everything survived the wait except the carrots.   They have shriveled up quite badly and look like sad shadows of their former selves.  The humidity in the studio must be a lot lower than I thought.   I had been a little worried about the pepper lasting, but certainly not the carrots.  They look pretty sickly.

I think parts of the painting are okay, but it all still needs work.  I don’t like the back end of the carrots and the balance is off on the left.  I feel like I have to add something next to the gourds, just off of the middle.  I haven’t decided quite what to do, but I have a another small pepper I can use.  I guess I’ll try a few things out.  Perhaps a small onion.

The background came about in a funny way.  Lately, for some reason I have had trouble keeping my fingers out of the paint.  I noticed some red splotches on the upper right that came out of nowhere.  When I looked at my hands, I found that somehow I had brushed my nails into the red paint on the palette while I was loading another color onto the brush and then accidentally touched the watercolor board with them.  What a klutz I can be.  I tried to scrub it out but was unable erase it completely.  Ergo the swath off to the upper right.  It doesn’t look half bad but I would rather make those decisions on my own. 

I will probably let the painting sit for today and look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow.  I thought it looked off last night and still do today.  The photo only enhances the perception.  Decisions, decisions.