Every now and then, a plateau is reached, in whatever field of activity in which one is engaged; looking back on the last posting here, I felt - that's just not very good. It's boring; the earlier stages were better than the later ones. It's been fiddled with, and zhooshed up with colour, but actually, let's be honest: that hasn't improved it.
Over the last couple of weeks, I've tried to add to it, but the basic problem is that it's a dull subject, dully executed. I do not seek contradiction - spare me the "oh no, really, it's LOVELY!" - oh; you were going to spare me... Well, you were right. A few days ago, I added a yacht to the foreground; now, they say don't paint boats unless you really know how they work (which I don't). Others disagree, but I must say - I think they were right. So I feel a great big brush of white gesso coming on, to obliterate this image, and the creation of something different (and, one hopes, better!) on the liberated canvas-board.
I can make several excuses: I haven't really got on with this MDF covered with a rather fine weave of canvas; I prefer a lot more texture - and preferably, stretched canvas. Actually, that isn't several excuses; that's only one... maybe the best I can do. I just think the idea behind the painting wasn't up to snuff, basically - Fawley oil refinery could, I think, be translated into a decent painting in oil, and on a much larger scale than this - but in acrylic, on a painting 30cm by 30cm, it was maybe never going to work. In any event, I don't think it has.
Is this a bad thing? Well, no - we all produce the odd dog's breakfast; some of us show them, some of us don't; you learn from all of them, the successes and the failures, and maybe more from the latter than from the former.
In this case, it's stopped me for a while, and made me think about where I'm going - so await the next thrilling instalment while I ponder the next step.
