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“I can never accomplish what I want, only what I would have wanted had I thought of it beforehand.” Richard Diebenkorn
Well, I tried this and it definitely does not work for me. Diebenkorn may have been reconciled to his trial and error working method, buy this approach drove me crazy.
What about all those planner artists? Apparently, Vuillard made lots and lots of sketches and so had
a pretty clear idea where he was headed before he began to paint. The finished work was already in his mind's eye.
Are you content with your working style? Are you wrestling with it? Do you do a lot of planning or not?
I found that when I get into the middle of a painting and feel completely lost it helps to stop and do a notan or two to clarify values. Or I turn it upside down, or walk away for a few days, or look at other art I like. Sometimes it helps to cover up most of it with tape and brown paper and just work on one area. A tricky idea is to ask someone else because, of course, it all depends upon whom you ask. Big backfire potential here.
I think I used all of these approaches in this painting of Bow Hill, a long grade between Mt. Vernon and Bellingham, Washington.
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I'm intrigued to see how the creative process crosses disciplines. As a writer, I rarely "Begin with the end in mind," as Stephen Covey would say. It's a journey and sometimes you can get lost. Your paragraph of suggestions is very helpful. I also like consulting "random" prompts (like Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies cards), with the objective of unlocking ideas that I can't reach with linear thinking.
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