Better, stronger (in the studio).

Here is the promised "current state" of "Pond." It is version 3 and will change again soon. I feel good about its progress. I am optimistic it will finish well. Enough said.

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As usual my day began with a drawing. This allows me to dwell upon the major technical problem I am having in moving forward in my overall problem solving. Yesterday's post showed a drawing which made me very uncomfortable (its composition and the form of the woman's head are both very disturbing to me). So I began the day by jumping into this drawing and approached it in an open, intuitive manner. I believe it much the superior drawing when compared to the one in yesterday's post.


There are two levels of problem solving in the studio. One is the current problem of solving the previously begun painting, or paintings. Two works are in this mode, "Pond" and "Two Men." The other level is my current comfort with my approach, i.e. how I make my images. The initial drawing speaks to me of my comfort level, which is never satisfactory. As in yesterday's post, it sometimes feels overwhelmingly wrong. On days like that I should probably pack it in and go for a contemplative walk, but I don't and most often the work suffers. The good part of this is my coming back stronger, with a more satisfying approach, in the following days.

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Here is a study I made for a new painting. It will be a street scene with the street plunging into the background. This idea has haunted me for a long time. It is time to tackle it in a major painting.

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