Love your errors

[Peter Dransfield]

I confess that I get turned on by discovering and correcting errors in my work. There is nothing better than staring at a piece trying to work out why something doesn't look right and then finding the culprit. Fortunately I make rather a lot of errors and since I never find them all at the beginning of the process I get to prolong the pleasure of correction throughout the painting or drawing. What a boring job art would be if we eliminated these moments.

[SB Wang]

Peter:
Image of error:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rom_moscow.jpg

[Peter Dransfield]

Sometimes it is better to cut your losses or not to attack (Napoleon should never have taken on Wellington without being sure where Blucher was). On the other hand why continue with a painting where all issues have been resolved at the start? This would become a mere painting by numbers exercise. The excitement is in the process not the result and where is art without excitement? I love to see drawing marks and corrections and the visual residue of the thought processes of the artist as they developed the piece - Coldstream is a classic example.

[Mischa Milosevic]

"I love to see drawing marks and corrections and the visual residue of the thought processes of the artist as they developed the piece - Coldstream is a classic example."

A, but not everyone cares to express their human frailties. Artist of the modern day are super men and women. Didn't you know. LOL

One of my favorite artist to listen to is Lafell. The man newer stops and one is challenged to find meaning to his words. I think him a grate artist by the way.

[Peter Dransfield]

I too suck in my middle-aged gut when a pretty girl passes but there are many situations in which a before, during and after enhances the impact of the final result.

Thanks for introducing me to Lefell - powerful, direct and textural portraits - not so keen on his still lifes.

[Julie Deane]

Great subject, Peter.

Mirrors, putting the image into Photoshop, and absence from the work for a time all seem to help. Even taking a digital photo and looking at the image in the camera can jog the brain to see something that it missed.
And drawing, drawing, drawing to better "see" before committing to paint.

Pardon my ignorance, but who is Coldstream? Would you mind sharing a link to his or her work?

[Alexandra Tyng]

This sums up one of the most exhilarating aspects of the painting process for me:

Originally Posted by Peter Dransfield

. . .the pleasure of correction throughout the painting or drawing. . .

That's another way of describing the ongoing process of pushing edges back and forth as you lay down layers of different colors against each other. Freehand drawing keeps your eye sharp and your arm relaxed. I wouldn't bypass it for anything. There are inevitably mistakes, but if you take them in stride rather than get anxious about them, then the resolving of them will be an exciting (and, okay, sometimes frustrating) challenge.

[Peter Dransfield]

I wholeheartedly agree and frustration is a good thing anyway in a ying yang dualism.