a pause
Painting
I was out of the country for work all week, which obviously put a stop to any painting, and these things are always exhausting, so I won’t get back to it ‘til after the weekend.
I did finish my complete scale drawing the week before, and the results were annoying!
I either trust me that the final painting will be what I want, or trust the drawing, which suggests it might be a mess. Here’s a fragment:
my eyes hurt. At the end of this I realised I probably needed a new glasses prescription, and it turned out to be true.
I think I’m right*, not the drawing - the drawing is just outlines of all the triangles, so there is a lot going on, whereas the painting will be much gentler and full of undulating color.
I did get more immersed in the process of drawing out the pattern. Made a few mistakes, which is good, as it’s useful to learn where I’m likely to make them. So I don’t do it on the canvas.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the mistakes came when I experienced a little impatience to finish something, when what I really needed was a little break. I keep needing to learn this! The trick, I’ve found in the past, is to work out how much is a reasonable block of work, after which I have a break. That way I can avoid the little voice telling me to “do a bit more”. When I go to paint, it’s good to know exactly what I will achieve. In my last bigger paintings, I knew I could paint one row of lines in two hours, plus some time for a break between taping and painting. I don’t know what that will look like for this painting, but with any luck WRITING THIS DOWN HERE will help me stay aware of needing to find the sweet spot.
There’s no point in trying to push the limits when it comes to what my brain or eyes can cope with. Tired either is of no use. Before anyone accuses me of not being ambitious - the painting is ambitious. I am just the tool, and the painting won’t work if I’m broken.
Obviously I hope this painting will “work”, but if not, it’ll be a useful thing to have done on the journey. That’s what I’m feeling at the moment.
*never a good sign!
Music
Really enjoyed the latest Apron show on NTS. He’s been playing a track for a while called Our Secrets, by Willem Mulder, which is on this show too. I can’t wait for it to come out, it’s fantastic. So check that out.
