BIRD IN A TREE 12, DAY 3

A step closer to completion. Curious how different paintings dictate different treatments. Bird in a tree 11 required a much more delicate touch. This painting has a more robust treatment and I prefer it. The space is more naturalistic and satisfying.

It would be good to understand what elements of this series of paintings are succeeding and failing. I feel I have only just started on the journey, this is very encouraging. I am not going to force a direction, the paintings will lead me and the development of the idea will appear gradually and seem more authentic.

Anyway, a week of rain is forecast. Studio painters love rain. It makes planning the next day so much easier.

Bird in a tree 12. At the end of day 3.

WALKING THE TIGHTROPE

Not literally of course, but every painter knows that time when the image held in the mind refuses to appear on canvas. What to do? All those working drawings, all those photographs perfectly exposed have been cast aside. Postcards stuck on the wall have been ignored. Now comes the time to walk the tightrope, to trust your judgement. Hours of laboured painting rapidly disappears, you are now walking a fine line. Will the image get away from you? It is high stakes, a gamblers instinct. The day will either end in disaster or the image will appear miraculously.

Why not walk the tightrope?. When so much in our daily lives is routine and humdrum, why not choose to be surprised?

Bird in a tree 12. At the end of day 2.

THE PARDOX OF SMALL PAINTINGS

One of my concerns about this series of paintings was the size: 20cms x 13cms. These paintings would be finished in a day? How much time does is take to cover 260 square cms?, a single brushstroke for de Kooning.

Well, its the end of day one for ‘Bird in a tree 12’ and I am mentally exhausted. I shan’t even reveal how many hours my painting days consist of. I feel embarrassed. Thank god I do not share a studio with some energetic young contemporary with their metres of stretched canvas and house brushes. So what defence can I offer for these meagre returns at the end of day 1?

It’s the very size that creates a unique set of problems. Everything is condensed and concentrated. Every lazy brushstroke is magnified. Every poor colour decision diminishes the painting. The placing of each element commands more attention in such a tightly packed composition. Must I paint every feather?. No, there are still all those judgements to be made, what to put in, what to leave out. The endless battle to find the right tone!. Oh my god, these are such small paintings, must I still endure all this suffering?

There is no escape. I carry forward all my expectations at the start of the day, readying myself for the struggle.

Bird in a tree 12. At the end of day 1.