I had a painting I did many many years ago. I hated it.
It was a total bomb, totally embarrassing. It just sat in the corner gathering
dust. I ‘came across it’ recently, and I
had the same reaction: I hated it. I
decided it had to go. I’m going to show
you a series of 6 pictures over the next several days of my ugly painting being
transformed. I wished I had taken a
picture of the ugly one, but then, I’d probably wouldn’t want to show anyone
(Yeah, it was that bad). On the other
hand, I have to remind myself of one bit of wisdom from a now long lost painter
friend: “Every artist has a right to blow it on a painting (or other work of
art).” Anyway, as I started painting, I
quickly started covering the entire canvas with new fresh paint, just working
spontaneously from the gut or heart. I
wanted to cover that ugly painting fast. In a way, I love the fresh energetic feel of
this first stage or go at painting over this canvas. I think sometimes (and I’ve encountered this
among students), many artists or art students want to just stop at this point
and let it be finished, precisely because of the freshness, energy, and
spontaneity that’s there. But, I think
you have to go on, because you ‘know’ it’s not finished. If you always stop at this point, then you
might get or can get very good at ‘getting to first base’. The truth is that you have to run around all of
the bases to get home. I think the fear
is that as you work your way towards home base (finished work of art), you may
very well blow it (like getting thrown out at 2nd or 3rd
base). It’s a very real fear, because it
happens.
Russell Eng
StudioEng.com