Saturday, May 11, 2013

Dwell in the Subject, Not in the Painting

When I'm painting, it helps me to keep my eyes on the subject, rather than my painting, as much as possible.  I glance at the painting to match colors/tones/placement, but I try not to dwell there, or let my eyes rest there for too long, and instead dwell in/with/on the subject as much as possible.

My memory is only so good—it's hard to carry the memory of a particular color or effect for long. If I'm looking mostly at my subject, I have a better chance of capturing the colors and effects in the way I'm seeing them.

Also, if my eyes are dwelling on my subject, I can't get caught up in the details of the painting itself, or in any kind of exactitude.  Which furthers my cause—immediacy and freshness.

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