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December 31, 2005
When the going gets tough
the tough throw their palette across the room.
Sometimes things just pile up, personal things more often than not. And if doubt seeps in, then the work suffers. You got to be confident to do this painting shit.
When I was painting yesterday I felt I was just going through the motions. But that’s not a worry in itself, going through the motions is okay, it has its time and place. Sadly this wasn’t the time or the place.
I’d mixed up a whole pile of paint, in three tones: light through to medium shadow, and I was just putting them on: one, two, three. I told myself this was okay, I’ve got to get a lot of paint on before I start to work it.
But then the crap caught up with me, personal crap, like some fucking emotional exocet missile – it was locked on to me. There was no escape.
So next week I’ll buy a new piece of white Perspex, a bit bigger this time, and make myself a new palette. Meanwhile, scraping paint from the broken palette I continue to push the paint about. Only this time it’s not going on: one, two, three; and the painting gets some life back into it.
Posted by john at December 31, 2005 05:52 PM