https://images.hive.blog/DQmbjauWW2FPhBGZ4M3CrebBkX47JrdUB6pvywUFf33u44p/20260317_181611.jpg

Today I wanted to just paint something for myself, without purpouse, without pressure, just something to get into the groove of feeling ok with the process of painting and not being afraid. This photo (that I thought I took last year or so, but turns out I took it 3 years ago) spoke to me so I thought why not attempt to paint it.. ![](https://usermedia.actifit.io/3bda78b5-9b8f-4411-8bb2-9497fa93f426) Since I've noticed that one of the main struggles I have recently is with values, I turned the photo into black and white, to give myself a better understanding of where the darkest darks are and the lightest lights. https://images.hive.blog/DQmPXzqgF7k9GU6YTcVJ71HJ9mAnBXwVRzHNGQdvhDSASit/20230315_161242~2.jpg Even in the colour matching/remembering game - https://dialed.gg/ - I find that I struggle the most with matching the value (how dark or light the colour is), more so than the tone and saturations. Black and white photo allowed me to focuss on value, without distractions. The end result is not precise-precise, but I do believe it helped me alot in the process. I like how the mossy rocks turned out, not so much the water. I left the water to the very end and so I was running out of daylight to properly understand the subtle nuances in the hue of the water, so I might work on the water some more tomorrow or some other day when the light is back. https://images.hive.blog/DQmV7SoBzDfePT1uX1uSDjP3C5X3PjtEjkUVjwm1EAjVKay/20260317_181728.jpg Unfortunately I don't have progress photos on this one as I was.. too much in the zone.. to remeber that I might need them. The roughly 3 or 4 hours that it took to paint this flew by in an instant.. Oh, and these are acrylics.. still. Of course. But for a simple 'I want to not be afraid of panting' exercise, I kind of like how it truned out. I feel like it's sufficiently whimsical.. ^^

https://images.hive.blog/DQmPiHLApwnRVFNdKQjFgH8pnprKrmatocKu5gRjTozNyVs/Josie_Blank2214-82.png

Hugs&Coffee,
~Josie~