Is it Done Yet?
Of course, giving up on a thing when you’re sick of it isn’t always the best way to decide it’s done. My solution: put the artwork in the closet and forget about it for a while. When enough time has passed I go and look at it, and the question of whether the piece is finished very quickly answers itself.
I’ve discovered another advantage to this approach. Sometimes I know I should redo some section of a painting, but I decide against it because I am just too tired to tackle it, and want to get on with another project. Put the problem away for a month or two, and I find that I again have the energy to fix whatever needs to be fixed.
Titian used to start a painting, rough it in over a couple of days, turn it against a wall and leave it for a few months before taking it up again. I think he must have been using the same principle I use when I put things in that dark closet and forget about them for a bit. At any rate, his idea might be a first cousin to mine, although I give him credit for having thought of it first.
No comments:
Post a Comment