Yes! You did read it correctly. Leave a painting face to the wall – It was Titian who is supposed to have said it: That if you leave a painting, face to the wall for long enough, it will paint itself! Now I know what he meant and I’m happy to let you into the secret. The most difficult part of any painting is knowing exactly when it’s finished.
The danger is that you carry on working it until you think it is finished. Then you look at it a week later and start to notice all the faults.
Very often, it has been ‘over worked’ and has lost much of its initial vitality and excitement. Leaving it for a while, won’t prevent the overworking, but looking with fresh eyes, will tell you what areas need attention and how to resolve any issues.
This is what Titian had noticed, so he would leave his works to stand, while he gathered more thoughts on how to proceed. In a similar way, I have in the past, been tempted to take photos too soon and publish them on my Facebook Page. A few days later, all the faults and problems begin to emerge. How annoying can that be? So here’s the moral of the story:
What to do when nearing the completion of a painting!
When your painting is nearing its conclusion – leave it for a few days or longer – When you return to it you ‘should’ know exactly how to finish it.
Not quite up to Titian’s standard. I know, but here is one of my own acrylic paintings. A portrait of the American Jazz Pianist, Oscar Peterson.
I painted this in my studio using old black and white photographs as reference material. I hope you like it.
Click photo for more details!
If you could choose a portrait of an interesting or well known person, Q who would you choose?
I’d like to know your thoughts.
Hi Julian, very interesting blog. The same applies in business. Too many directors make mistakes by not taking the time out to reflect on, or even forget about their business plans for a whole. I often find that the solutions to complex problems come, just when you are thinking about them the least. Even in a busy economic environment, it is a fool that forces a solution, using the constraint of time as the reason.