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January 19, 2004
the third stage
There are three stages to a painting. Well there are many stages to a painting actually, but for the purposes of this article, I’m talking about three of them. The first stage, the second stage, and the, er – third. Though the first stage here isn’t absolutely the first stage in – [enough, Ed.]
One of the first stages then, is the decision: what goes on it, how does it go on and where does it go. A difficult stage as, with nothing as yet on the panel, any marks are very obvious and vulnerable. This stage is explored on paper and with photographs before it gets to the panel, but there is still a nervous tension surrounding the first marks.
The second stage is the best. It’s really quite luxurious as it’s just an abandonment of paint. A letting go. The actual act of expression, where things are fluid and changeable and generally in flux [if the flux level is okay, obviously] and sort of soft and run by the right side of the brain. The second stage [unlike a Saturn V rocket] can last for a long time.
The third stage is a stage a great many people say I should omit. It is the processing of the piece. The honing of the emotion to ensure communication. And this is where I can get stuck. Perhaps I should leave out the third stage and just leave the emotion raw. After all any marks I make on the panel are valid expressions of myself. And if this business is about anything it’s about the expression of the self, not about what the self thinks others might perhaps like to see expressed.
So, there are two stages to a painting…
Posted by john at January 19, 2004 05:58 PM
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