Just Do It, Just Make the Change

It happens in some paintings. I put off and put off changing a piece of the canvas that I am working on. Then, I finally do it, I make the change. And voila! Instantly, all is so much better.

Here is the longer version. I am working on a painting and all seems to be going well, in the right direction. But there is some small part of what I am putting on the canvas that calls out to me in a not happy voice. It says: "I am not quite right, I am not fitting in with the rest." So, I stop and I check. I remeasure, I check the color and its value, I reassess the light effects, I consider this part of the painting in relationship to all the other parts, etc. And I can't see what is wrong. Since I feel okay about the whole, and I don't want to spoil what seems to be going well, I tell that little voice to be quiet. I go on with the painting as is. I work on the painting in several sessions. In just about each session, that little voice speaks up again, and again I do the checking but leave it. Finally, in a session close to the final one, I decide to go for it and trust the little voice. I muster up the needed courage, pick up the brush closest to hand, take up some paint that seems good enough in color, and I boldly and definitively go in and change that part of the canvas (this week, it was an antique French bottle in a still life arrangement that was calling for help). And it works (that bottle needed to be taller and broader in the neck)! That part of the painting is better and so, of course, is everything else. Everything is up a notch. What is amazing to me is how quickly it all happened. All it took was making the change. After all that hesitation and fretting and checking and rechecking, a quick and strong gesture that breaks the pattern and brings in something new makes everything better. my mood included.

I think this is about more than painting.