The critique was a weight off my shoulders, considering i wasn’t too embarrassed to hang it on the wall. It definitely stood out, but the yellow was still pretty dull. i tightened the edges and fixed the bottom of the background, and overall i am pleased with my progress.

I love the way this project is turning out. Hollis said she loved the background, but the main yellow piece of paper needed work, but I’m too scared to mess it up. i just keep adding layers, hoping it pops out more. At least it is better than the last.

I am a lot more familiar with the oil paint, and really appreciate the fact that it stays the same color wet and dry.

This new project with the colored pieces of paper is very exciting. i get a chance to redeem myself. i picked nice, opaque colors, and i folded it just perfectly. (hollis said it was her favorite so that was a confidence boost) i started my outline of the underpainting and i felt good about it. A lot better than the last one. I zoomed in quite a bit, so maybe it will stand out from the rest

The critique on our first painting was difficult. Most of them looked amazing, everyone has their own style and everyone seems to be getting the hang of it. Its hard not to compare work but i couldn’t help but notice mine did not stand out like most of them. I decided painting the background whiter would help, and maybe adding darker and lighter colors to make it look more 3-dimensional. Its not realistic, more painterly. i hate my folded piece of paper.

Walking around the room made me feel worse about my painting today, but at least I’m getting a little better on blending. I hoped that today if i focused on putting in the details it would help, but it didn’t change anything. Im trying to paint in blocks, but the more i focus on one section the wetter it gets and then everything just blends together. Some light is cooler, some warm, and its difficult to differentiate where one ends and another begins.

Oil paint doesn’t dry. And it smells. The brushes are like trying to paint with a broom. The underpainting is done, i guess, i have no idea what it is supposed to look like. i can only hope it magically ends up looking relatively like paper.

Working on the first project, i don’t think I’ve ever been this frustrated. I have never been behind in a class, and i feel so inadequate around these amazing artists. This white piece of paper we have to paint HATES me. Its my fault, i shouldn’t have folded it in the weirdest way possible. Even looking at it in real life looks really awful. All these things we have to add to the paint are so new to me, i have never played with oil paint before. But at least i spent an hour on an underpainting only to start all over again.