There is a saying in writing circles: “Kill your darlings”. It means that it is destructive to hold onto pieces of text you really like when they don’t contribute to the overall story. I do this when I paint, as well as when I write. It’s the hardest thing to do, but sometimes it is necessary to make the work, as a whole, stronger.

When the Painting Doesn’t Work

So how do I know if an aspect of my painting isn’t working? Good question. Sometimes I don’t.

I used to rely on other people’s feedback, but sometimes I have regretted following that advice. These days, I think it is growing into a gut knowledge. Struggling with completing the work to make it good is one thing. It isn’t the whole story. Sometimes, to make progress, it’s necessary to let something go.

For me, the decision seems to boil down to whether the element I am struggling with is the focus of the painting, or something secondary which is getting in the way. It may also be that I’ve had a new idea on the direction of the work. It might even be as the result of a failed correction to a brush stroke that ruins the whole effect. I’ve even painted over whole artworks with a new colour to blot it all out, even when I knew there were parts of the painting that were really good. Mostly, something better emerges.

Example: 8 Versions of ‘Forest Light’

‘Forest Light’ turned out beautifully, sold, and now resides in South Australia. There were many heartaches along the way in getting it finished though. I gave up some ideas I was really attached to.

Click on the first image to open the LightBox view. Scroll through photo to see captions describing what I was trying to achieve in each version.

What I Notice

The curved hills and simple structure I started with felt good to me, but others felt it wasn’t quite there. Rather than leaving it, I painted in more details, which didn’t quite work. I was left with a mouth shaped cave though, and I absolutely loved this part of the painting. Try as I might to keep this, as part of a gully, as part of a face, as a cave near a river, it didn’t have context. Eventually, I painted over it, and a forest emerged. A beautiful forest too. I recognised the light and the trees from my own walks. It felt authentic.

If you enjoyed this post, check out other days in the 100 Days of Art project.