May 26, 2006 - 9:22 pm
An idea develops (Continued)

After a color sketch and three separate preliminary paintings the image for my next major painting, Sam and the Prefect World was now ready.  As I started painting, as with all large works, I was convinced it would be my best ever.

It did not take long however, for a familiar and insidious problem to reoccur.  I call it “image fatigue.”  Working on the same painting everyday for weeks on end is sort of like playing your favorite song 100 times in a row.  After a while, no matter how much you like it, you get sick of it.  It happens to me every time.  Fortunately, I have developed some ways to cope.  Mostly I try not to look at the painting or think about it!  I cover the finished areas so I’m not tempted to casually look at them, and I treat each little section, each day of work, as if it were a separate painting in its own right.

Since all of the important content decisions were made ahead of time, I needed only to worry about the paint quality and surface.  Rendering all that detail takes huge amounts of time, and, thankfully, while painting certain areas I am able to let my mind wander.  I listen to books on tape, public radio, music, even television to pass the time in this solitary and lonely occupation. The work is also very difficult.  There is nothing but problems.  When I work on a section, it almost always looks horrible for most of the time.

Sometimes, after I have been out of the studio for a day or two, I will uncover the painting, turn it on its side and take a quick 30-second look.  Other times I look at it upside down, backwards in a mirror, and with my eyes out of focus.  Changing the orientation of the painting usually helps me to get a fresh and objective look.

It is this middle portion of the process when I’m extremely sensitive and unsure.  The smallest most innocent comment could be the final straw and – hopelessly discouraged – I would have no choice but to abandon the painting.  To prevent that, I simply do not show my work unfinished – or even talk about it, except in general terms – when it is in progress.

After a whole summer of this struggle including nights, weekends, and skipped vacations, the painting was finally finished and I could now take a long hard look.

I was so exhausted, so tired of the image, so dismayed, I seriously considered entering a different painting into the competition.

Thankfully, I had a moment of clarity.

I sent in my entry.

My website: www.davidmlenz.com

Image 1: The Familiar Path (the painting I almost entered) ©David Lenz
Image 2: The Familiar Path, detail