This 36"x32" oil on canvas painting has been in a near-finished status for months. I've become so used to it in its current state that I don't feel the normal compulsion to take it further. This could be a sign that it's finished. Or fear. This is the first oil painting I've completed since 2005 and I don't want to screw it up.
What's my motivation to open up this inner debate with fear and 'the critic' on a Sunday evening when I'd rather be chilling out? An opportunity to exhibit the work at a show during the Chelsea Art Walk in late May.
Painting with warm neutral glaze
Bringing a painting into Photoshop for experimentation is always helpful. Looking at an image in a few pixelated inches condenses the composition down to its essence. Flaws become instantly obvious. And the exercise always leads me to question the merits of digital media as an art form. Why struggle with oil and drying times when with one click I can 'step backward'?
Painting with green neutral glaze
With so little time to finish the painting for the show drop-off date, I can't layer it with months worth of circles like I might with an instant-drying gouache painting.
It comes down to a here and now decision. Glaze it with warm neutrals or cool neutrals?
As a friend keenly noted this week, I like to win. Choosing the wrong glaze might put me back. But stepping out of the game and calling it finished is worse.
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