You might think that I know what I’m doing here….I don’t. It’s not necessarily a bad place to be, it’s how you learn to be a better painter. Much about this painting is not in my wheelhouse. I don’t usually paint animals, although lately with the Gods and Monsters series, I’ve ventured into more ‘creatures’; snakes, monkeys, birds, etc….but still I don’t feel like I know what I’m doing. I think it takes years to feel confident painting in a particular style or a singular subject, but I have a short attention span and my interest wanes when I start feeling confident.
Again, I’m at that point in the painting where I struggle with how real I want something to be. Is a koi enthusiast going to look at this and say, “Oh a koi would never have fins that high on the body”. Should I care? To some extent, yes. I want it to be believable, but perfection isn’t necessary. I find photo realism boring. I can buy a camera.
