Painting a "Novel Exploration"

Finally finished the book painting. How did it stress me? Let me count the ways...

• perspective
• fore-shortening
• elipses
• type rendering
• metallic shine

Yep, that's most of the stress. The thing that kept me going was the composition and the details, as usual.

Warning: Stacking books is obsessive. Although it's not proven to be hazardous to health, it may result in  p r o l o n g e d  periods of tweaking angles, re-thinking color choices, and substituting sizes. Essentially, it's the painter's version of sampling fonts for graphic designers.

Novel Exploration ©2013 Dorothy Lorenze, 12x16"

These old books have so much character. They were carefully selected in my travels from California to Connecticut to the Carolinas. (Apparently the "C" states read more books.) I searched antique shops up and down the east coast for the horn glasses which were finally found online, in an Etsy shop appropriately named "Wanderlustwoman,"  Really.

It would be hard to pick my favorite part of this painting, although the page edges and worn spines were the most exciting to capture. They were also the most frustrating, which actually makes sense. I'm sure there is a poem or proverb somewhere about getting the most satisfaction from accomplishments that initially allude us.

Hmm. There's Emily Dickinson's:

"Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed."

That's not quite right. My goal is to improve my painting technique; to "succeed" while still enjoying the sweetness of capturing those moments of beauty, texture and light.

So, sorry, I'm not searching the web to find the perfect quote.  I'll be in my studio painting.