Letting Go

Untitled, 34" x 21", oil on panel (in progress)

While waiting for the latest layers to dry on my self-portrait, I decided to go back to my landscape. The first thing I did was to paint over the small group of trees extending into the water on the right side. I really needed to re-establish the gradual progression of the water, and these trees were in the way. Now, I liked them quite a bit, but I was warned a long time ago about falling in love with a small part of a painting and trying to hold onto it to the detriment of everything else. Besides, I can just paint them in again later.

I also painted over the buildings and roads I had begun in the center. I plan to put the town back in, but instead of building up vegitation around the structures, I'm going to cut the city into the forest. I think this is a better approach, similar to painting trees. Instead of building up to the shape you want, you cut down to the shape you want. Why do I think this works better? I wish I knew. It just seems to be the case. Perhaps it looks less calculated because you're focusing on the negative space (what's not there) and so what remains appears more natural. Regardless, that's my plan. We'll see if it works.

It probably appears that I am backtracking. I think preventing yourself from backing up is a hazard though. Rushing to the finish, in anything, tends to achieve a product that doesn't stand up upon examination. It lacks the proper foundation time would have afforded it. I find painting to be an exercise in patience, among other virtues.

Meandering

untitled, 34" x 21", oil on panel (in progress)

Last summer, I stood on a cliff overlooking a lock and damn on the Mississippi and thought "I should paint this." Almost one year later, I'm not even close to finishing. As this has been my only "active" painting, the question that immediately springs to mind is "What is taking so long!?!" I wish I had a good answer for that... which is to say, I wish I had an answer I liked, because the truth of the matter is I think I'm just lazy.

I could produce an itemized list of excuses, but when it comes down to it, a painting such as this should not require a year (or more at this rate) to complete. It's not that I don't think about it. I think of it constantly. However, as my mentor has pointed out to me repeatedly, "That's not painting." If only it were. I'd be surrounded by paintings.

I had this same difficultly in college. The number of paintings I "completed" in comparison to the students around me, was paltry. The ironic thing is that I have this idea in my head that I want to be a painter. How exactly does one become a painter without painting?

Whining aside, it's my hope that somehow this blog will motivate me to paint more in order to have something to discuss. Will it work? (cue cliche) Only time will tell.