Part of the Process

Every painting I work on has many stages it goes through. Some more than others but all of them have a beginning, a middle “ugly phase,” and a “as close as I’m going to get before I lose my mind” finish. This painting was no exception.

The beginning was definitely fun starting out as I had purposed to go back to thinking just about composition and value. I am continuously drawn back to the visual aesthetic on the monochromatic. This is the first painting since college that I have done without color and I really enjoyed it.

The middle phase, I call the ugly phase just in that it isn’t the beginning and it isn’t where you want it to be either. This is the part that I sometimes stop at for longer than I should and ask myself if I like where its going…and talk myself into keep going with it.

The last, is as close to finished or done as it will get. There is always something to improve on…if I have the time or opportunity I might tweak it but I find that when I am scared of messing up or changing what I have too much because I like other aspects of the painting more- that is the line that tells me to be done.