Despite my best efforts, sometimes I get a clunker (a painting that’s awkward and I can’t figure out why), a pot-boiler (safe, but uninspired), or a false start (a good beginning that doesn’t lead anywhere). What are some of the remedies?
The Gallery Flambeau
Look, you don't want your grandkids to inherit your clunkers. That’s why my son and I developed this solar-powered, environmentally friendly device. It uses a 4-foot wide array of parabolically positioned, laser-mounted mirrors to magnify the power of the sun over 300 times. Displayed under its unforgiving glare, a painting magically disappears into a cloud of smoke and a shower of ash. Gone forever. Press delete. Your Artistic Average goes up a tiny notch.
The Frisbee
I was in LA painting in a park with a friend when both of us ended up with clunkers. So we decided to decorate the top of one of the palm trees with our paintings. We flung them up to the top and they stuck. They stayed in the top of that palm tree for years. I don't recommend littering, but there are times when you have to frisbee your painting into oblivion into a volcanic caldera, a tsunami, or a forest fire..
The Scrapedown
John Singer Sargent famously brought his models to tears with his repeated false starts that didn’t work out. Because he was working in oil, he scraped down the painting and started again. The term in French is grattage — Think grated cheese.
The Paint-Over
Painting a new study over an old one is an old tradition. John Singer Sargent did it often with his oil landscapes. One reason for doing this (apart from being a cheapskate and reusing old panels) is that the old painting suggests random colors and textures that are fun to build over, especially when you turn it upside down. With gouache you can cover over a clunker with an opaque layer of priming.
Written notes
If the sketch is in a sketchbook, you can write something next to it that grabs the viewer’s attention, such as a quote or a description of the subject. Or you can explain why it’s not working:
The Cross Out
When one drawing on a page goes south, you can show your displeasure with it by fiercely crossing it out. Adolph Menzel did this from time, letting people know: “Don’t even think of framing this one.”
Tweaks and touch-ups
Sometimes it’s a minor thing that’s wrong, and all you need is a little fix, and then BOOM—it works! In that case bring in some people you trust, get a fresh eye on it, put a piece of tracing paper over it, or cut out paper for a new silhouette until you know what's wrong and how to fix it. Only then can you make the necessary revision.
Delightful, and so useful. One of the reasons I love doing demonstration paintings for my students is that the possibility is always there to f...mess up. Then, try to solve it. The one I love to resort to in class is painting out the most finished area of the piece, on the principle of "kill your darlings". If that doesn't work, wiping the thing down to a haze and starting over usually elicits some groans. Then, if I can't make it work after all, I tear them in half (illustration board, I'm not Hercules) and throw them in the trash. Whether it works or not, they've learned something!
I have hosted a painting bonfire for friends who are artists. It’s been a few years. Probably time to do this again. We stand around the fire and explain why each piece is being relegated to the flames. It’s very cathartic.