Ever had one of those days where everything you touch turns to crap? Today was a day that shouldn’t have seen a paint brush. Everything was fine yesterday…the paintings were going well, and I left them for the day feeling satisfied. This morning I took one look and decided to do the thing I vowed “I wouldn’t do on the next one”…Tweak.
This elephant had more dexterity.
OK…who hasn’t tweaked something to the brink of no return? You know the feeling…just a couple touch-ups here and there, and before you know it panic sets in because you haven’t made it better. The hand isn’t translating what the mind is seeing. Feels like you’re painting with a broomstick, complete with all the finesse of said broomstick…the stick end.
This. This painting went into the Death Spiral.
Walk away? Hmph…yeah, right. Nope, I gotta ride it (thankyouverymuch OCD). The inanimate suddenly gets life and just dares me to try to control it. A small war is waged…the brush against the hand, and both against the brain. Weird thing is, that when this happens, I know I’m on the cusp of pulling it out of the death spiral…or consigning it to Hell…and I dive in with all the enthusiasm of a Viking berserker. One way or another, there’ll be an end to it.
I managed to let go (let the berserker have her way)…and that’s when I pulled it out. It actually DOES look better than it did last night. It was simple from a technical stand point, but exhausting mentally.
I see a metaphor here, but that’s for another time.
