Wanting to be a Painter / Progress

Back in a  February '15 post  I mentioned that the co-driver and I were taking art classes.
I continued with the drawing phase for a couple of months and really enjoyed the process.
I drew some copies of Schiele villages and other artists' landscapes and then a few made up of elements from photos I had taken at home and around the area.
We had compulsory drawing days once a month learning about things like shading and perspective. 

Then my teacher, Jules, decided that it was time for me to paint.
So we bought some tubes of acrylic paint to supplement those we already had as well as a few small canvasses plus other bits and pieces. Having discussed the various available media with Jules I thought acrylic would be the easiest way to start. They are easy to apply, quick to dry and clean up in water.
I selected a photo of a simple landscape from the internet which had all the elements I thought would be the basis of some of my future pictures.
It had blue sky and fluffy white clouds, a looming thunderstorm in the background and a grassy knoll with a tumble down shed sitting on the top.
For weeks I worked on just the sky portion. Nothing would go to plan. It always looked wrong. Jules was very supportive and tried to help but it was, in a word, disastrous.
To make matters worse the co driver was merrily working away next to me slapping on paint in her carefree manner and producing lovely impressionist landscapes.
I joked (sort of) that my canvas had been painted over so many times that it weighed ten times its original weight.
The solution?
Change medium.
I started to work with oils (water mixable).
What a difference!!!
Water mixable oil colour allows you to experience all of the benefits of using standard oils like long drying time. This gives you the opportunity to blend and re-work areas of the painting.
And the colour you apply is the colour you end up with, not a darker one.
This is the direct opposite to acrylics.The only similarity is water clean up.
Within an hour I was achieving more than I had in the previous month. Not perfect by any means but well on the way to satisfying my criteria which is the main aim.
So I soldier on.
Maybe I will post a picture of the result.......one day.