Failed paintings (but I still like the ideas)

Hello lovely people, 

I attempted a quick painting the other day that didn't quite work out as I wanted it to, and I also found an old piece I had started but scrapped half way through, so I thought you might enjoy a small post featuring them both, with  bit of info about what I didn't like and how I might revisit them one day!

The first one is the most recent piece I did : 

This painting was a sort of study for another concept I want to create, where a woman's hands are turning into twigs forming a nest to protect something she is holding.
I was not confident painting a nest, so attempted a smaller idea first. I went in without much planning, and I am not too unhappy with the eggs and nest, and although they are not finished, I felt I learned quite a bit about painting those elements.

What really bothers me is the face. It feels flat and lifeless, which is not what I was intending ( I wanted the face to look alive and relaxed, almost contemplative) and I wanted to paint long hair flowing over the edges of the nest, but couldn't decide on the colour, nor was I confident painting hair enough to feel I could pull it off.
Something simply wasn't working out for me, so I decided to stop and let this piece go. I got what I needed from it as far as practicing painting the nest.
I do need to practice painting faces with watercolour more however. I like the contrast between the softness of watercolour and the boldness of gouache, and I want to experiment more with using them side by side but for different elements in a piece. 

The second failed painting is this older one :

This one probably dates back to the beginning of 2018.
Obviously, my painting skill was quite a bit different at the time, and I was a lot newer and less comfortable with gouache. I also went into this one with no planning, and not much in the way of an undersketch.
The idea was that the character's hand were charred and smoking, while the character also dissolved into smoke.
I didn't spend much time painting it before I realised I didn't like where it was going, but the idea has stuck with me since, and I definitely want to revisit it, even if just in a sketch to start with. I would want to add some details to it, to make sure it doesn't look like the character self-immolated, as I don't want the image to be shocking, rather more ethereal and symbolic. 

I like the position of the hands, and the smoke blending into the lighter background at the top, so I might keep those elements, but I need to paint the skin differently. I might make the face turn into smoke as low as beneath the eyes also. 

That's it for now!
I hope you don't mind me sharing the pieces that didn't work out with you, as well as my regular work. I find that there is a lot to be learned from failed experiments, and I wanted to share that with you. All doesn't always go perfectly smoothly, in fact, it rarely does, and I strive to represent that in what I share with you ! :)

In other news, I went to pick up my paintings from the FUBAR gallery show, and I was tremendously happy with how it all went.
I sold the original FORTITUDE drawing to a really, really wonderful young man who also gifted me an incredible watercolour sketchbook he made, and although the day had started rough as I barely slept last night, meeting him was the absolute highlight of my week so far!
I also sold 7 of the 9 prints I had made available during the show, and I bought a few art supplies to celebrate, haha. 

The rest of my week will be spent working on some posts for you all, including Process Videos and Tiny Tutorials, and hopefully some sketching and painting if I can fit them in.
I will be working on July and August physical rewards also, and should hopefully be able to send you your packages in the beginning of September. I will add a few extra goodies to say sorry for the delay for all of them! 

In the meantime, I hope you are all doing well,
Welcome and thank you to the lovely new peeps,
Have a WONDERFUL day or evening,
Speak soon,

M