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May 10, 2005
altered states
So, just as Robert said [below] – make yourself perfect then paint naturally.
Painting is a thing of the moment, dependant on mood. Painting isn’t nine-to-five-go-home-and forget-it. Painting is something that gets worked up inside me. Gnawing away. Unsettling, unsatisfied, unfullfillable. It ain’t easy.
There are no maps, no routes marked out, to get you to the end of a painting. Oh, okay – if I’m doing a portrait we’re looking for a likeness, yes. But there still needs to be that something else. The essence.
Drawing’s the same. Making marks on paper. I have to sneak up on drawing. If I think about it it’s crap. I have to fuck with my mind to get into a state where something starts working. I don’t know what it is. I know when it’s happening sometimes. I can see it afterwards if I’ve got there. But setting out, with the blank paper and stick of charcoal is like leaving Spain with most people thinking you’re gonna fall off the edge of the world.
[okay well maybe not quite like that, but you get the idea…]
Some would say it’s a case of relaxing, some would say it’s letting go. I don’t know what it is exactly. Except that it happens sometimes. And not others.
Posted by john at May 10, 2005 09:34 PM
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