Colored Boat by Yover

Reader Submissions: Painting Photos Challenge #14 Reflected Blue Boat

From yover

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A stressful work!

Abstract like.

Medium/Support/Size

Colored boat. Oil on canvas board 27 cm x 22 cm.

My Thoughts About This Challenge

I am a right-hander, but I have decided here, for the first time, to paint with my left hand. I am not ambidextrous, so this work has been a painful challenge. To be honest, I made a quick drawing with my preferred hand, but the rest only has been made with my non-favorite hand. The difficulties were big and I lost my control more than once: I felt so clumsy!

But here it was impossible to be meticulous enough, impossible to reach the "perfection" of the outlines, impossible not to shake a little! My left hand was so weak! But the result involuntarily reaches, in some details, an abstract manner.

Lessons Learned

This work brought full of lessons. For instance, I realize the quest for perfection at all costs is a nonsense and very… tiring for the mood.
Therefore, this kind of work is very stressful: I am not brave enough to begin again.

Marion Boddy-Evans, Painting Guide, says:

Using the "wrong" hand does quickly remind you how much control you do have over a brush with the "right" one, but it also prevents you from doing things automatically, which lends a freshness to your mark making and prevents overworking. If you think the painting isn't "finished" enough, what you might do is to take a small brush and, with your dominant hand, add a few touches of detail. Set yourself a time limit, say 10 minutes, to prevent overworking.

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