This is an old clay whistle I bought in Mexico several years ago and painted for fun last week, so I offer it up as my post. I think it is a devil. I have always loved it - it is such a power packed little form, all madness. Today was actually a good painting day but nothing I did was worth much so I wiped. I learned lots, though. I have been painting that bastard white cup (day before yesterday) for months and it offers all sorts of problems: the cup itself is all ridges inside with a thick rim that fools my eye regarding the elipse, the handle is clumsy and fastened weirdly to the foot, and on top of that, it is white, or rather a creamy, grayish bleh. I think I appropriated it from a friend's house, thanks a lot, Kris, because it is very small and fits well in the hand if you are drinking a bit of strong coffee. It is a staple of my still life stash, and I return to it frequently to see if I have mysteriously acquired the skills yet to get it right. I've been at it again this week, and finally decided that the way to tackle it, is to break it down into small pieces: I don't have to keep going in a straight line until I get it, I can do it every morning as a warm up, and then wipe it, and if it takes 100 days, that's what it takes. So today's was pretty good! I am encouraged and thinking, pretty soon I will have a cup painting, and believe me, I will be crowing when that happens.Oh yes, I used Cadmium orange in this...I had some on my palette from portrait work. It's such a different orange from mixing it, sort of a tough orange.
An impish little devil! Through which end (I probably shouldn't ask) does one blow this whistle? :-) As to the white cup---don't paint it for 100 days and you will probably find that you've "mysteriously acquired the skills to get it right." Or, that's the way it works for me, anyway: let go of my compulsion and one day, for no rational reason, I can do it and it takes no effort. How does that happen? No idea. It's a mystery, indeed.
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