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There comes a time when we have to change.
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Message
Posted
There comes a time when change is forced upon us like it or not . I have come to that point recently well if in honest I should have accepted the inevitable a while ago. Just recently I have found it more and more difficult doing the detailing on my paintings of ships etc , and it come to the point where in spoiling what could have been a reasonable painting. It’s really due to trying to hard and not relaxing whilst I’m painting the actual reason is the problem with my hands and the unsteadiness caused by poor grip on the fine brushes . I have decided to concentrate on landscapes for a while in the hope that when I see the consultant next month he will sort things out. I was inspired by the paintings of James Fletcher Watson and his use of pure colour I’m also a fan of the traditional style of watercolour painting.
With this in mind I attempted a watercolour of Malham Cove in Yorkshire, bit of a mistake as it turns out , it’s a complex view looking straight at the cliff face.
It’s far more difficult than I expected .
Well here it is warts and all it’s not completed as I need to add and change some of the trees.
Also attached is another incomplete painting I’m working on both are scenes of my home county Yorkshire. The photos are not very good due to the poor light . 
M
M
Posted
9Life's a bitch Paul...I sadly have walked away from Life drawing something I have enjoyed for years...why? I can't see the bloody model...which depletes the objject of the exersise a tad. Possibly the venue,, the back ground and the naff lighting.
So I have an inkling of how you are feeling... one reason I have started to use Inktense pencils is because they are nice and bright and I have a degree of control. Also I can work under a bright light closely.
None of that helps you. And I know how much you love your water colours. A small thought ...ignore if you will but maybe use a different medium , larger brushes and stop worrying about detail.,I don't know ,possibly your hand problem might even not work with large.
Hopefully your consultant can offer some sort of remedy... just by the way, your pics are still great.
Edited
by Sylvia Evans
Posted
If you do use acrylics, though, Paul - make sure you choose the ones that are liquid enough to manipulate - I like using heavy bodied acrylic, but have done much more work in oil lately, because I find the acrylic takes more physical effort. I would say try a painting knife, but that takes it out on your wrists ....
On the whole, I'd try big-brush watercolour, on large sheets of paper - if you use a hake, you can't get too pernickety: and if worse comes to the worst, you can even strap them to your hand. It is a real fag when your body stops you doing the things that you love to do (and that could be taken in a grubbier way than I meant, so no sniggering at the back: some of us had to give that up a long while back...). I've got arthritis all over the place, I've had a couple of eye operations (as has another here on POL) - but I think I've been pretty lucky on the whole: if I can't stand for long, I can sit; I can still see; I haven't had a stroke..... You can get quite grateful for such things as the years roll on!
Best of luck with your consultant: make sure you tell them that you paint - a surprising number of doctors paint as well, and their advice can be better tailored to your needs if they know what's most important to you. (That DOES read as patronizing, but according to a doctor I consulted once, it's amazing how few people actually tell them what they find most distressing about their condition.)
Posted
Thank you all for your comments they are appreciated. I won’t be defeated and I will keep painting but in a different way for now . I think it’s the admitting it to myself that was hard but enough moaning it’s time to get on with it as they say.
I have used acrylic before and unfortunately had a problem as there is something in them that caused a reaction , eye watering etc. A couple of day and I will just carry on as normal and stop being a moaning old sod. Fortunately I love landscape painting.
Posted
I certainly will adapt Hellen , I tend to get on with things once I’ve put my mind to it . It’s the frustration of having to accept thst I can’t things it as I would like too. The saying where there’s a will there’s a way comes to mind .
No Sylvia I won’t get be skipping , now this will have people wondering what your on about . I bet you had a smile all over your face when you wrote this and had a giggle as well.
Posted
I certainly won’t stop painting Lew , even if I have to have a brush strapped to my elbow. No one problems are trivial it affects us all different, I’m luck the I right hand is still quite functional, just stiffness, pin etc , my left one is unusable for most things .
However from what I have found out treatment is very successful and after a rehab period of a few months it s a good recovery., it getting the treatment that’s the problem.
Thank you all for you kind comments and support, it helpful when people understand the frustration etc and offer advice.
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