When is enough or is enough too much? The dilemma of all my painting career!
Wendy was probably right. It could have been finished several days ago. But no, I had to go on, and on, and on. Still it was fun and that is mostly what this is about. I'm still ok with it as a finished "thing" but am irritated that I always have to go that little bit too far towards realism. "Stop sooner" I hear you say. Well yes, but have you tried to give up biscuits when you're addicted to sugar?? It's as impossible to do for sure! I think that the next piece will have to be just interconnected blocks of colour and texture to help me break the habit :D
Another thought for today's car journey (I do loads of brain stuff when I'm driving... and picture inventing whilst still asleep in the early hours of the morning)... was "Balance". It was triggered by reading a blog post from a lady who posted photo's and considerable though on the way her horse was going for her. I could see she was imbalanced, which of course directly affects how her horse could carry her. The interesting thing was that she was trying so hard to be balanced, soft, gentle with her horse that she was carrying her hands way out in front of her as if she were offering a tea tray to guests. If you've ever "waited on" you'll know just how bad this is for your back. You have to brace your back muscles to achieve it, and this causes a resistance in the horses back. Well this applies to painting too. Are we bracing ourselves by offering too much? Causing a resistance to the natural flow of the ideas and brush strokes by trying too hard? I wonder what part of our brain we have to relax to be able to get the balance right. Have you guessed? ... I'm finding it a fight still ;)
4 comments:
Yes you have succinctly nailed it, that question of balance. You might call it "where to draw the line" hoho. Joking apart it's a battle but one to be relished. Decision making is a constant part of an artists practice; every second.
Incidentally I'm glad I've found someone else with the night brain activity and the car thought processor syndrome!
Look at it as a learning curve, Helen, there's no such thing as a mistake in my book, just another lesson on the journey. Do you take photos of the progression of your paintings like this one? You could directly compare the results if you think you've gone too far.
I sometimes play in Photoshop with an image of my WIP's to see if they're finished.
This is GORGEOUS and yes it is FINISHED! :-)
Love the colours,
LEAVE IT ALONE NOW! :-)
Yes, it's a constant struggle and a learning process but if everything turned out perfect, you wouldn't need to keep working!
We're usually our own worst critics. Your paintings are really beautiful.
Post a Comment