Points of Perception

Slightly frustrating day in painting world; at least the cold has started to loosen its grip on my sinuses, but spent large portions of the day in repainting mode - it goes something like this... Start new painting with great exuberance and enthusiasm; try out a few new techniques, splash out on some big brush strokes and gain confidence in what will surely be the big masterpiece. Notice that the face that you have lovingly and exuberantly painted over the last two hours is a little wonky. Not very wonky, but enough to need attention; never fear, the work of a moment...

Two hours later, still tweaking.. lost all ability to see or draw straight (or indeed curved). Face now looks wrong whatever I do and now the rest of the picture is losing its rose-tinted hue and coming back down to earth. Start of dark mood as realise that this is not a miraculous masterpiece and will be as hard won as the rest of them; vow to leave face alone before paint is an inch thick.

Three hours in and still tweaking.. checking face in mirror produces evidence of more anomalies and skewed drawing. Worse, idly checking other completed paintings in mirror reveals similar evidence of wonky faces and bad drawing; consider throwing in the towel. Have cup of tea. Face starting to look slightly more acceptable and mood lifting as new wave of euphoria creeps in - new painting is the miraculous masterpiece after all! Gaze fondly as tea is consumed.

Final step tomorrow - return to discover which, if any opinion is the correct one and how the face looks after a nights reflection. My guess is somewhere in between 'perfect' and 'hopeless'.

This, I hasten to add, is pretty much the creation process for all paintings apart from smaller ones that are finished while still in the delusional 'masterpiece' stage. These are even more annoying as the illusion is shattered wholesale the next day when the cold light of hindsight reveals all the flaws in their glory 'in a oner'.

Let us see how the daylight reveals my new work of genius tomorrow...