July 10, 2010

Fulton and Baker Revisited


Acrylic on Panel

This piece is lying near my easel, so I often pick it up after working on something else and being all warmed up already, I find something new to adjust in this piece. It may be a bit like polishing, well, a thing that shouldn't be polished, but I do enjoy seeing how a few bold strokes here or there can completely change the focal point, or the mood, the relationship of shapes etc.

In other disciplines I've discovered that this path is often fruitless, in terms of arriving at a finished piece, because of some major structural flaw. A boring song, a poorly conceived photo, even a bad pasta sauce. It can't ever really be saved. Better to just start anew.

However there is a lot one can learn in the process of making adjustments and seeing what happens. Especially freeing if you know you're working on a piece that may never turn out right. You can't ruin a disaster. The knowledge gained can then be applied to other projects, even if it can't save the patient at hand.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous!

But remember the old Hawaiian saying:

"Too good no good brah."

Also, Islamic calligraphers would place an obvious error in their work to show humility in the face of the almighty. Only Allah can be perfect. (but kinda missed the boat with our species)

Cheers,

Direct Current

"Your mistakes are the only thing that you can truly own because nobody else wants them!"

Chartan said...

"Your mistakes are the only thing that you can truly own because nobody else wants them!"

Thanks for that! I like it.

J.Farnsworth said...

The rug makers too would purposely mis-stich one area in a repeating pattern so as to not approach godliness. What arrogance! As if to say, "I'm really that good."

I'm happily confident that I will continue to include mistakes in each and every piece. What a relief.

Thanks all.

rick said...

I love this one.