Frustrations / "All About Eve" 1950

I met with my mentor Mike Carson again yesterday. He had some good things to say about what I've been working on, and he had great suggestions about painting flesh. His entire technique is wet on wet, with thick paint applied in quick strokes with a huge brush. He's able to imply a lot more with less, and I am the exact opposite right now. My biggest weakness as a painter is my approach to detail. I tend to overwork things forever until they look worse than when I started. He challenged me to try some faces with a  wet on wet technique. Last night I spent a few hours trying, and it was a total disaster! I basically wiped it all off and got nothing for the work... Mike said he was once told to "paint like he was rich", or in other words, use paint as if it wasn't expensive. He's right. I need to thicken my paint and be bolder. It's just frustrating to be experimenting now... 

I also watched "All About Eve" (1950) last night. It won best picture and a slew of other oscars in 1950. It feels more like a much older film. There were times when it was very slow, but the story comes together in a great way with some character twists. It feels a lot like watching a drawn out theater piece. The lighting is great and the Overall, a great film that feels the period. If this film was released  today, it would probably get an R rating because every character is smoking for the entire film! Cigarette smoke looks good in black and white- Marilyn Monroe also shows up another breathy role.