"Quack"

6x6", oil on canvas board


This is the third painting I did on that same day, and I decided to add a different element: The duck. I'm still working on colors bouncing around in the water and through the glass. And while I've been working mostly  with black base coats, I think I decided to experiment with yellow. I'm thinking I like the black.

And this one feels a bit like a step backwards. Some of it might be that I broke the rule about not having things be the same: I have the same distance between the border and the top of the flower, the left side of the jar, and the duck's butt. And I just noticed that the horizon line is right in the middle. I think the focal point is the duck, but it's not clear. Yeah, hmm, all those things pretty effectively kill the drama.

An artist friend of mine knows of someone who has a list of things he goes through when he evaluates his paintings. I've avoided making such a list, but maybe I should.