Mistakes Are Good

                                        Follow The Leader 
                                       by Susie Tenzer 11" X 15"
                                     

Aren't they?  I finally finished this piece and it took me a bit longer than usual because I made some mistakes.   I took the photo on a cloudy day at a lovely Japanese garden in Seattle.  My grandkids were throwing food out to the fish from the bridge we were standing on.  What a commotion!  The fish splashed, the kids laughed and I knew this would make a good painting.  When I got home I made some initial decisions, such as moving the duck and fish closer together than they appeared in the photo.  I also decided on the color palette, cool blues, greens and a pop of orange for the fish.  The lily pads were challenging because at first I made them too yellow-green.  Their tone was also too bright in comparison to the gray blue water.  I got about a quarter of the way through the lily pads when I decided I'd better erase!  I spent the better part of a day, carefully erasing with my battery eraser.  Stonehenge paper can take quite a lot of abuse, though.  I began again, laying a gray green undertone.  Now the effect looks like the cloudy morning that we experienced.  My mistake caused me to pause and think carefully about what I wanted to show.  I learned a lot from this painting - mistakes are sometimes good!