It’s the last day of a very troubling year for me.  I’m glad to see it come to an end. 

And, on top of that, my divorce is almost over!  It has been such a long time.  I haven’t talked about it that much on this blog, but today I think I’m going to share a few things.  I’ve been separated for a year and two months.  It was about 4 years prior to that when our troubles really started to happen.  To keep this as simple as possible, he had tried to cheat on me, and after that things just fell apart and never got better. 

Anyway, this year has been such a headache trying to deal with him.  He hasn’t exactly cooperated with me that much.  But, I was finally able to see a lawyer in Novemeber of this year, so now things should all be over soon (hopefully).  The crazy thing is that he moved in with a girlfriend sometime last spring.  And, I was recently told that he had told everyone that we were already divorced, and that he is engaged and ready to marry this other woman.  She has a ring and everything.  His friends and co-workers didn’t know he was still legally married, and I’m sure she didn’t either.  So, this adds a little insight into why it has been so difficult trying to deal with him this year. lol  This is stuff that happens on a bad Lifetime movie.

But, as I said, this is all almost over for me, and I can finally move on and fully heal.  So 2012 seems like a hopeful year for me, and one full of potential. 

I just put the songs from Mousercise on my mp3 player.  And, this might have been the best music decision I’ve made in a long time.

Anyone remember Mousercise?  Do I even have watchers old enough to remember Mousercise?

theleakypepper replied to your photo: Finished! Yea! I got some good critiques from my…

oh wow! i looks great! i thought the original you submitted was impressive, but this is even better. glad your mentor was is so nice and helpful. that makes learning less stressful, i think.

Thank you!  And, it is really nice to have a mentor.  If anyone is a beginner, I’d recommend finding a mentor if possible.  It’s really helpful to have them show you things that your eyes are just not yet trained to see.

Thanks again to everyone!  I really appreciate the support artists give to each other on here.

theleakypepper replied to your post: teresamurphy replied to your post: I uploaded my…

you might ask him what suggestions he would have to improve it? I thought it was lovely, personally. And much better than anything I’ve been able to do. If he’s worth his salt, he’ll be able to point out things and be nice about it. :)

Yeah, I asked for his advice on what to do next, so I should hear from him today. He’s normally nice about his critiques, just very honest. haha! Absolutely no sugar coating, which I think has been the best thing for me.

Really, this is an intersting stage in the art process for me because I can learn so much when I think I’ve reached the limits, and then I’m shown were it can be pushed further.

Oh, and thank you! :) And to anyone else that has liked, reblogged or commented on my art, I really appreciate the support

teresamurphy replied to your post: I uploaded my pear painting to my art course…

Nah, I can be almost done with a piece and hear this too. Basically he didn’t know what to say. Get it to a point where YOU feel it’s done and post it. Even doing a few steps in your work can bring it together nicely. Don’t discourage. :)

Good advice.  I’m not sure that it is done, but I think I am reaching my limit.  My skill level is kind of at that point where I’m starting to see where I can make things more detailed, but I’m not quite good enough with the tools yet.  It will come in time.

Oh, and I’m definitely not discouraged.  I don’t mind critiques (sometimes), especially when it is my art course work. 

And, I’m pretty sure he will have critiques.  He normally does.  But, they may actually be smaller things to fix, at least I hope so. haha!

I uploaded my pear painting to my art course thread expecting a critique, but this is what my mentor said,

“Its coming along keep working at it. And remember to save copies every so often and before you make big changes.”

Not so bad right? Wrong! haha! You see, I look at my painting and see an almost finished painting ready for my final critiques. He looks at the painting, and still sees lots to do. If that wasn’t the case, he would have given me a more specific comment. I guess that’s the difference between an amateur and a professional. lol

So, now I need to figure out what else to do. I guess I could push the values a little more on the pears and maybe refine their shape and edges even more. I could do more blending, details and textures, but I’m not really good at that yet.

This is sometimes my favorite part of the painting because this is where a lot of the learning comes in. So, back to painting.