Oct 26, 2022, Wed — Magic Day Ten Aspen Trail. The magic definitely happened today with the foreground. Yesterday’s foreground composition was thankfully not a foregone conclusion. 

I came in this morning and after lots of dinking around (there was still a section that had not been painted, so I did that). Then I made subtle improvements here and there that I’ve been wanting to get to, kind of like trimming errant bang hairs. That took most of the day but the time was doubly usefully spent as it gave me time to contemplate the “problem child”. Finally, with an hour remaining, the two big foreground rocks and I sat down for our come to Jesus talk.

It was decided by a mostly confused and experimental jury to “dumb down” the first rock (meaning make it less bright), and scrap the second rock entirely and from there work to to create a better second rock. All the while muttering, “I know nothing, I am so confused, I have no idea, etc.” I really do talk to myself like that freaking all day long. In between bursting into song I’m so excited. But what I do know in these cases when your back is against the wall, you finally just have to take the leap.

Taking the Leap

Thankfully, yesterday’s paint was still “wet as new” due to the cooler temperature and I was able to scrape the second rock completely off. I mean completely! I was even able to use a little solvent on a cotton pad to take the imprint off. It was right back to the hot orange underpaint. (I call myself a solvent-free studio, but I do use it very rarely for exactly this kind of situation. Hah, usually to remove my signature and try again — you have no idea how hard the signature can be.) The paint has to be incredibly fresh to be able to do this. 

So viola, erased! Back to the unconscious mind. Or living now in a parallel universe. Or living here still underneath. Haha. Now the challenge was to create a new rock out of thin air. Again, take the leap. I was thankful I only had a few minutes left so I would be forced to just go for it. And wow, I’m pretty sure I got it! What a great feeling — like getting Wordle on the second try. There’s one little spot I didn’t have time to adjust, so that’ll be tomorrow. And THEN I’ll show you the picture.

Thanks for reading Magic Day Ten Aspen Trail. And thanks for checking out my Originals, Prints, and Art Giveaway! Here’s an earlier Colorado painting just for fun…