Hazel catkins again - this time noting the loose lambs' tails dark against the light sky but increasingly bright pollen-powder yellow against darker backgrounds of trees, grass, earth and allotment clutter. You might just make out the shed, fruit cage, pallets and an old bath. I've been following advice to hold pencil and brush further from their tips, worrying less about the wobble and more about weight and shape of mark. Compensatory blobs added afterwards can, to a certain extent, re-balance. I'm not sure about the overall effect, but the process is more satisfyingly watery. It may be the growing insanity of lockdown, but I'm finding more emerges when I let go than when I'm too controlling. Returning to pencil observations before painting has helped me understand more about what I'm trying to do - though don't ask me what that is. |