Late November, after my trip to Holland and before the busy season in our business would hit, I started a group of paintings with a landscape theme. It had been unusually warm, or balmy as the American expression is, with a hazy kind of light, the color of the grass a tender almost springlike green while the tall grasses were dry and pale and the trees already bare. I wanted to catch some of that haziness in a combination of the pale-end of season- colors.
Then I got interrupted by the Xmas season, a trip to New York (to see Brice Marden's work), another trip to Chicago and here I find myself again trying to pick up the mood of the paintings at the moment I left them. Not easy!
On top you see the paintings, the one on the left was the furthest, but when I started working on it again I was not happy with the proportions of the color fields at all. Somehow the brown field towards the bottom of the painting bothered me.The paint just did not sit right there, not natural. Reworking it I went through all the familiar phases : Yes, this is much better - Now I should change this a little - Hmm, not sure if I like this at all. By the end of the day I got out my rag and washed away all that I'd done, caught my large tube of underpainting white and covered all that still was bothering me and went home unsatisfied.
The next day I changed the proportions, added more 'sky', let down the fields toward the bottom of the painting - it feels a lot better now.
Years ago I would have had great trouble doing this but over the last decade I discovered that 'fearless painting' does the trick. I used to be very careful with paintings that did not totally work, especially when people had made remarks like: 'but that is such a beautiful part' and I'd try to preserve that part and only rework some other parts. Wrong! It always ended up being an awkward painting with some beautiful parts. Somehow over the last years I managed to let go of that cautiousness, now I just turn the painting upside down, cover parts with underpainting white and continue, it always ends up being better as it was before.
It does need some re-stretching to get rid off the pleats in the corners.
3 comments:
Marina, your description of the reworking process tells almost exaclty how I just spent the last 2 hours in my studio--changing something, satisfied for about two minutes, then back at it. In the end scraping, painting white. So I had to smile in recognition, and I'm sure plenty of other painters will also identify!I also like what you wrote about ending up with a so-so painting with a few beautiful spots as the result of someone's positive comments. Again that hits home--although it's nice to hear something good about a painting in progress, it can really cause mental blocks. Just yesterday I finally redid an arrangement of several panels that I'd been preserving against all my better judgement after a friend said he liked a certain two together.
Rebecca, it seems we're on the same page here, always good to hear I'm not the only one struggling...
About comments on paintings in progress: a Dutch friend and painter understood that perfectly and we agreed and always asked each other if a painting was ready to be discussed or not. I would not want to miss the spontanuous praise from a visitor but once you are in doubt about a painting and people start to say great things about it, it sure does not make things easy. Usually the best is to follow your instincts, in a profession where gut feeling is an important factor that seems right.
Like your arrangement of panels proofed ! (once again)
Marina, I can identify with this post. It's taken years, but I too have learned not to fall in love with a part at the expense of the whole. I think experience teaches us that if we have faith in the process, something even better can often come out of it.
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