Blue Mountain
My first landscape oil painting ever in life was my Blue Mountain. My source was a magazine photo that was only 4 inches square. This was problem number one. With a photo that small you can’t see the details well enough to recreate them in your own vision. Problem number two. I painted it in 3 hours, big mistake. I should have taken my time, because I think it would have turned out so much better. Problem number three. I just didn’t have a lot of experience painting with oils. I had only painted two other paintings and the first one was just 1 inch squares in a bunch of different colors to get use to the way oil paint mixes and moves on the canvas with different amounts of paint thinner, called turpentine. Even with these issues, I still wouldn’t change anything about how I painted this piece. Because, it taught me to take my time. To have a quality source, if using one. And, that every time I invest in creating a painting, I am teaching myself something new and becoming a better artist. You might be asking yourself why did I bother putting this up if I don't feel happy with this piece. And, my answer is, I think everything is beautiful in at least one person’s eyes and I think it's important for you to see where I began when I first started using oil paints as an artist. We all have to start somewhere, and mine was a blurry blue mountain.
