It’s good to give things a break

20 Aug It’s good to give things a break

Posted August 20, 2011 from Seattle, WA. 

  Before I dropped everything to work on the 7th and last Washington State Birding Trail Map, I was wroking on this Osprey at Deception Pass painting.  Having given it a break gave me fresh eyes, and I feel like I’m getting the cliffs, the bridge and the Madronas a bit better than before.

I have some feelings this is a better-than-average painting for me, but when that happens, I watch to see how my customers respond to it.  I realize that many artists would pooh-pooh the very notion that the buying customer should be given power over this type of decision, but for me it’s not just an opinion, it’s a foundational belief and not subject to alteration.

What I’m hoping here is that it might make sense to publish this painting in an 18 x 24  offset litho, signed (not limited) edition that would be the third sibling to Pike Flowers and Rachel in that size. 

One factor might include the popularity of Ospreys, which may seem to be everyon’s second-favorite type bird, not to mention that some folks still aren’t aware of them at all.  Osprey are gorgeous in flight in their environment but can look gawky in photos.    I don’t know any bird that has such a dearth of good portrait photos, despite the fact that they are relatively tame.  I know I’ve never taken even a half-decent shot of a sitting Osprey.

But regardless, I’d be happy to read anyone’s opinion.  Is this a potential flagshippainting or should I just publish it as an 8 x 10 and move on to other things?