# 75 - No Fear About Fixing

                                           Version # 3

                                          Version # 4

                                          Version # 5

Fellow Art Lovers:

The works you see above the text of this blog posting are the product of about four painting sessions in my studio. Three of the sessions where rather short, and the session I completed yesterday (Monday) was longer – about five hours. Toward the end of that session, I finally felt I was getting into the swing of things

As I explained in my last posting, I’m working on a redo – a smaller version of the rather large painting I completed earlier called “Hope at K and A” because a friend didn’t have room for the larger full treatment. In looking at the different versions, I think you’ll notice that I’m gradually filling in the various areas, and that the main figures in the foreground have been changed several times.

What does all of this mean?

I’ll start with a little explanation of my style. As I’ve been saying for a long time, I want my style to be free, a little loose and a little rough, because I believe that that freedom, which slightly touches the abstract, gives me the greatest chance of touching your emotions. But, at the same time, no matter how free I am, certain proportions and relationships have to be convincing.

Therefore, from version 3 to version 4, I’m correction the scale of the teenager’s face, and from version 4 to version 5, I’m correcting the scale of the faces of the father and his two sons. All of the faces looked too small for the scale of the entire scene, and I had to correct them. If I had left the faces as they were when I first put them on the canvas, you would have noticed something was wrong, and you would have thought about this, rather than thinking about how bravely all of them face life.

Something in me, and I’m sure many artists and art lovers have the same capability, shouts out when something is off, either out of perspective or inconsistent with the rest of the work or something else. So my theory is: I let myself go in the beginning, but I go back and correct work that isn’t on target. It’s kind of a self-correcting mechanism.

Now, I have the main elements – the scene, the buildings, the El, and most of all the figures – of the painting in place. I mentioned earlier that during my last session, which was today, I really started to feel I was getting into my groove.

Now comes the most pleasure. I can let myself go, making some adjustments, surely, but I can work on the surfaces, adding other colors and mixing some on the canvas itself, putting in some of the unexpected brushstrokes I just feel like adding, adding the highlights that just come to me. And, as I’ve said a boring number of times, I’ll keep working until I know I’ve reach the highest point I can with this work.

I don’t know how long it will take, but I know it will be fun, and you, my loyal supporters, will be the first to know.

Thanks for your support and your patience.

Best,

Bill