I am keeping everything simple and direct with The Woman in the Red Pants. Overworking can be death to a painting. On the other hand, I have a horror of the blast, fire, shoot, throw, and fling army of ala prima painters who’ve taken over the Art World, at least the ‘figurative’ part of it. I try to stay as far away from that army as I can; it suffocates me.
I wouldn’t mind if my paintings took forever and betrayed no spontaneity. Both extremes–everything spontaneous, nothing spontaneous–are equally valid, which means neither is a core quality in art making.
The Art muse is its own (strict) master: experience is no help and can become the enemy of freshness (do not equate spontaneity with freshness).
The Woman in the Red Pants is 36″ x 48.” Today’s session was the 4th with this unfinished painting.