Muck and Mire

Ok, airing dirty laundry here, but I have spent a couple of days working on these koi fish on a gallery wrap canvas and quite honestly it is such a pathetic result that there ain't no way to salvage it.  I am and have been stuck in the muck and mire with these fish.  There are just so many things wrong with this attempt (poor proportion, muddy colors, poor composition, etc, etc) that I am going to have to gesso it over, sand and gesso some more and hopefully forget what's lurking underneath.  Then I am going to try to paint my magnolia one more time in acrylic or maybe a hibiscus.  They, like the poppies are such a beautiful flowers.  Yes dear readers we all have bombs, but I guess we learn from them, although I am not sure there is any positive to take away from this muddle.
But there is good news.  I have been letting my brain and Jania rest on my board for a couple of days.  After being disappointed in some of my measurements, I corrected what I thought I could get away with, and am now ready to go back to her with fresh eyes and enthusiasm and get her completed.  While she isn't quite perfect, sorry to her Grandmother, I think she is fairly close in likeness.  Then I'll take a deep breath and start on her sister who already in the preliminary drawing was posing some issues, especially around her fascinating eyes.
 Nope, I haven't forgotten my flamingo who is sitting here asking me when is it my turn? But we have beautiful weather here in Georgia, and it the time of the year that I have to shut down the garden and just enjoy sitting on the porch, so not in the art room slaving away.   Just spending some time thinking here too and wondering about what unusual colors I could use for the shadows of the pink/orange red feathers to sort of kick it up a notch.  I always get these ideas because I spend time reading people's blogs, and am currently doing so on several wonderful artists who started back in 2006.  It always makes you think and gives color recipes that you might never try yourself.  Well, you just gotta try it and weed out the good and bad.
When you read about so many of the masters they talk about the amount of time spent thinking is much more than actually doing.  Scary though it may be I might even do some preliminary color swatches to see what it looks like before I put it on the picture - novel idea huh?
Thanks for stopping by and being brave enough to look at the disaster.  Hope you are having a great painting week.