What is perfection, anyway?
Do you ever overwork your paintings? Maybe you start loosely…it’s going well…you’re a rock star…then you see some areas to “correct”. Then maybe you’ll just straighten those lines out and draw every slat on that fence. Two hours later oh wait you didn’t notice that mailbox, you think you’ll add that in…and that dog in the driveway has long eyelashes…sound familiar?
For me, painting is not so much about total accuracy and depiction. It is more about expressing an emotion or just simply transferring good energy. Yes, I do this through a form of semi-realism, i.e. you know what you are looking at, but I try to tell my story with emotive brushwork and harmonious color rather than tight or overwrought drawing.
I think this painting, “Roamin’ Holiday”, is a good example of creating energy without detail. Full disclosure: it was hard to stop at this point. The urge was to paint more detail on all the chicken shapes…surely I have to add beaks and eyelashes, right? Thankfully, I put the piece in front of some artist friends and the consensus was STOP. The white chicken shape visually informs the other chicken shapes.
My goal in painting is to cease “naming stuff”. This shifts the focus away from excruciating accuracy, or moreover, “perfection”, and into the joy of expression.
In my opinion, there is much beauty in a serendipitous brushstroke or a lyrically crooked line.
“There have always been painters who love the look of a brush stroke and
who, as a result, are willing to sacrifice “accuracy” for the sake of
suggestion and implication.”– Charles Movalli