If you like the way your paintings look as they are, don’t take a class with a guy who paints from life every day and will tell you what he sees. Instructor’s critique comments below.
North Bridge, oil on paper, 10 x 10 in (25 x 25 cm), 06/07/2010
• … has bounce; you protected the drawing; bridge is the best part; shape of field not clear; were trees as bright in highlight — yes or no?; squint; sky probably not as dark as that; you did a good job, looks good.
Farm, oil on paper, 10 x 10 in (25 x 25 cm), 06/08/2010
• … terrific; trees not that interesting; clouds overt — parts don’t add up — engineering; Italian pre-world war I painters in Sicily used simplified, abstract shapes, beautiful; color on right of building interesting; front of building best part — harder it is to paint more you succeed, you worked at it; engineering — how clouds really work; Homer’s Prout’s neck ocean waves; a lot of people want their paintings to look a certain way — have to be able to see their own painting, what’s happening in the painting, follow what’s happening.
Farm, oil on linen, 11 x 14 in (28 x 36 cm), 06/11/2010 – in progress / scraped
• … lost context; high grass on left along road suspicious; disappointed in left side grass; have to paint whole thing, not adjustments to parts; became self conscious bottom half; sky good — done as a whole; you know what you feel unsettled about, gain more skills, you get better, stay alive on that level, you’re making these decisions, just follow, get there by not being self-conscious; John Updike’s example: creativity is like a drop of water on a hot stove — perpetual motion machine; in an hour no time to be self conscious; conscious thinking helps you get to it; trees too harsh.