Alas, in painting sometimes a good idea doesn't always translate smoothly to paper or canvas. When I start a drawing and then begin painting, I nearly always have a pretty clear understanding of how I'm going to reach the finished concept that resides in my imagination. I can "see" the finished painting. Occasionally, however, the execution doesn't proceed as planned: I dislike my color selections, fail to paint as realistically as I'd like, or misjudge the contrast between light and shadow. Under those circumstances I'll let a painting sit for a week or so and if I can't resolve the problem, I rip it off the work board and tear it up. Naturally that's always a bittersweet experience because I understand that I'm throwing away many hours of work. But with that break, I can allow myself to move on to the next project.
In conception, this image was supposed to be a cropped view of the main clock in the main hall of Grand Central Terminal. The very large flag, rendered in slight shadow, hangs on the wall behind the clock. Although happy with the backlit clock faces - numerals and hands painted with a Japanese ink and brush - I just wasn't satisfied with the brass sphere and its myriad shadows.
The painting has been on my board for weeks and I just haven't been able to move forward. Rather than tear it up, however, I carefully removed it and have set it aside for the future. Perhaps I'll come back to it and solve the dilemma. For now it will remain an unfinished object, a "UFO" in the terminology used by my wife and her knitting circle.
2 comments:
I respect your standards, your perfectionism, but I also have to say that you might be a little bit wrong on this one:) I think it's w.o.w.
The ONLY criticism I have Brian, is that the color or shading of the left-side clock might be off. At first look, it doesn't quite appear to be further away than the front. After I put the thought in my head, it receded but at first, it seemed too close. Am I explaining it correctly?
Other than that, I think it's Awesome.
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