THE REFLECTIVE PROCESS

Summer Garden Dec 02 002 3 web
Originally uploaded by boab.

I received this very encouraging message from fellow "plein air" artist about a painting "Summer Garden" "Bob, your getting real good real fast. I'm proud to have you in this forum. Your darks are excellent and well mixed, your colors clean, scratching and clawing in all the right places. Power you can live by. What was your palette and medium?"

Wow!! I need to reflect on these comments How does one reflect on progress ???? Complimentary remarks like this tend to appeal to the ego and stifle learning.

This a reflection process that I find helpful. (not only for paintings)

What did I do well? Look at the positives. What were my strengths?

What did not work well? (Not what are my mistakes, that’s negative) We seldom make mistakes. If it did not work then can it be corrected? If so fix it

What did I learn? Learning what does not work puts you on the path to new solutions.

What would I do differently next time? Explore other avenues. Experiment.

Robert Abrahams