D. That is me. Remember those signs at the turnpike gift shops that were carved with
"PLAN AHEA
D"? (the D is always on the second line)
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| Grit conte crayon 34.5 x 20 |
That is me. That is my weakness. No matter what size ground I am given, paper or canvas, small, large, or in-between, I am running off the borders. My weakness shows up even when I work larger. I tend to work all over at once, and often consider the subject matter as secondary to other rhythms, (the initial block-in losing a bit of importance) so, often, a bit of time passes before I realize that I don't have room for all of the crucial elements.....and my painting euphoria comes to a screeching halt.
So, in order to compensate for this tendency, I have become used to placing a smaller rectangle inside the real one....an "imaginary boundary" that must be obeyed. It seems to work for me. In fact, the pencil boundary can often be seen faintly underlying layers of paint in watercolors. In oils, it can easily be removed on a subsequent layer.
I once did a drawing of my son Seth who is a runner. There simply was no room left on the paper for his feet. And I really liked the drawing. In this case it worked for me, as the emphasis was on his upper body and face, which was in survival mode. But this drawing was the final straw for me.....I simply must be more careful.
PLAN AHEAD. I guess I was attracted to that sign for a reason.
