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November 05, 2004

Recognising it

It’s very hard, when painting, to know whether it is going to be a good painting or a bad painting – whether it will work or not work as a painting.

Good paintings are painted in the same way as bad paintings. It’s only after they’ve been resting in the racks for a while, or when they are on display amongst other work, that it’s possible to begin to assess the painting’s success as a picture.

When the paint is being applied [schlapped on] I’m undoubtedly doing it [any existential discussions on this point can wait till after class]. A measure of the painting’s success is when it ‘leaves’ me, that is when it appears, to me, that I haven’t done it. [will M. Descartes kindly leave now]

The painting needs to exist in its own right, divorced of my hand. Yet, and, as Hamlet Prince of Denmark was wont to remark, here’s the rub: I don’t want the picture to be a complete trick [lie]. I want the picture to call out loud and clear I AM A PAINTING, LOOK, SEE THE PAINT. To this end I use big brushes, I try whenever possible to avoid blending and am partial to drips and splatters and runs.

Posted by john at November 5, 2004 12:19 PM

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