Seeing Potential in a Painting

   A good painting is satisfactory; a great painting is mind-altering. There are times when I can move on from a good painting, call it done, and not be depressed about creating a disaster, but to really learn and grow as an artist I must provide opportunities for disaster. Sometimes a bad painting just happens because I am in a funk, tired, or over thinking. Other times it is because I have overworked a good work or have yet to grasp a new concept. Other times it is because I see how a good painting can transform into one that is even better, and these are the pieces I am speaking on.

   No matter what skill level you are, we all can produce art that we know how to do. This is not a problem until it waxes over our minds and dulls our ability to grow. Some paintings that are good have the potential to ripen into greatness. It is at this pivot place in the work that I can make a decision to go for greatness which means that I may commit to the carnage of a satisfactory painting. I have been a butcher of many good paintings, there is no glory in murder, and you have to kill the darlings if you are going to move on. 

   Fear is the serial killer here, not me. I am not suggesting that murdering is the goal, the goal is to bring about life, to lift that work into a substance of astonishment. Fear is the unknown and we are slaying that by pushing a healthy painting into that void of uncertainty. It is a risk, and you have to disassociate yourself from your work, from what you like about it, and from your ego. It is the ability to let go while maintaining focus.

   I am not suggesting that a life driven by chaos is a path to enlightenment. Chaos and order are inseparable in life but it is a human condition to give chaos to one's life as well as in one's profession. I can dish out Chaos or Order to any painting at any time and not every endeavor needs to be pushed. A number of these good paintings can just be. If I kill every good painting then I will have no way to measure growth, and the reward is priceless. The reward is to paint a work that is notably dynamic and masterful. It has steered you into a higher level of achievement and understanding. 

painting by Chaim Soutine