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Old 11-14-2005, 09:17 PM   #9
Steven Sweeney Steven Sweeney is offline
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Joined: Nov 2001
Location: Stillwater, MN
Posts: 1,801
Headed in the right direction. It's often startling how an accumulation of small things can move a piece off the track, and getting those same small bits reoriented can bring it back. I have many times been ready to sign off on a drawing or painting, but wasn't allowed to, and hours later I'm still improving on it, and grateful that I had to come back to it with fresh eyes.

Try not to think of my suggestions as a list. Perhaps half of them will make the other half unnecessary. Do try to "see" every possible modification in your mind's eye first. Be sure of what you're trying to accomplish, and why, and of what you're going to do to get there. When you've done that much -- STOP -- take a breather, nuke the coffee, kick the dog for chewing on your brush handles, and come back to it after you've had a chance to see how that change worked out, both in itself AND in relation to the rest of the piece.

Try to be bringing the whole piece along at once. Don't rush that. Maybe you're done with one area and don't know it, because you haven't brought another "balancing" area along with it. Try to see it, try to explain to yourself what you're on about, and then go in and do it. Don't keep pushing one area out of uncertainty as to what to do next. That's when paint application gets thin and scratchy, and other misjudgments get made. Move to another area. Keep the whole process organic. Don't fall in love with any one area.
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Steven Sweeney
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