Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Trusting instincts


A Marilyn Moment
Original oil painting  28x22"
by Susan Roux

Painting is unusual. Most things, do them long enough and you almost become an expert.  I know this like the back of my hand. Sometimes you feel you could even do them with your eyes closed.

Not true with painting.

It seems no matter how long you paint, or how good you get at it, there are always those pesky paintings that give you a run for your money. For some unknown reason they just won't come together. It's like back paddling, never pushing you forward. You begin to feel like you're just moving paint around. Colors that were once alive, dull. The more you layer, the worse it gets. At some point you might even consider wiping down the entire canvas. It's how I felt yesterday while toiling on this painting.

But...

Frustration can be your friend. Seriously. It doesn't feel like it at the time, but when you get to the point where you're ready to just trash the entire canvas, freedom and spontaneity take over. The big brushes come out. There's fearlessness pumping through your veins. That "I don't give a care" attitude can propel quantities of emotion onto your canvas. With big bold strokes, you find yourself hacking into your work. Where you once delicately painted detail, you now obliterate with a single stroke. Oddly it seems to be better. Either that or you just feel better unleashing. The painting takes an unexpected turn. A clearer direction, perhaps a new direction announces itself.

Often a new day and fresh eyes help. You might even put off going into the studio. After all you're expecting to see a terrible mess, but it usually isn't as bad as you remembered. Those bold strokes of late yesterday seem to compliment. That's when you know your gut took over. There's an empowering drive in trusting your instincts. It's comforting to see your instincts didn't fail you.  Even through bad days behind the easel, the creative you persevered. There's wonderful energy in that. Part of you suddenly becomes reassured.


When the going gets tough the tough get going. Kevin Mizner recently posted about keep on working especially when everything is going wrong. He never brings it full circle to connect with the painting process, but it's implied.

Where do you land on this? How long do you work a painting? Do you try to salvage or does it get dumped as soon as it begins to go awry?


Are you trusting your instincts?

36 comments:

  1. This is lovely, Susan. Beautiful movement in the fabric of her dress.

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  2. C'est très souvent dans la douleur que certaines toiles naissent et deviennent de bonnes peintures.
    Ma nature, comme la tienne, m'oblige à persévérer, malgré certains moments de découragement.
    On se sent si heureuse une fois le travail espéré abouti, qu'il aurait été stupide que de l'interrompre pour le recommencer...
    Un véritable acharnement, qui valait la peine, n'est-ce pas avec cette dernière toile ma chère Susan. En souffrant, on fait aussi jaillir de soi des ressentis... Les peines, les chagrins tout aussi fort que le bonheur.
    Très jolie peinture, éclatante de lumière et d'émotion...
    gros bisous

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  3. She is gorgeous, Susan! She appears ready to walk right off of the canvas and I'm awed at that 3 dimensional aspect you've imbued into this beauty.

    As to instincts? I known immediately that my choice of subjects/composition is straight from the gut, or instinctual. The actual painting? So overthought like everything else I do, for some reason.

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  4. This is fabulous, Susan...love the flow of every element.

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  5. Wonderful blog! I love your painting style. I am your newest follower!

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  6. Beautiful painting, Susan!! The colors are just lovely! I think frustration can challenge us, maybe push us to try something we wouldn't normally. And if a painting isn't working why not push through if it's going in the bin anyway may as well experiment:)

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  7. Interesting-thanks! Right now I feel like I still need to develop my instincts, so I can't say I trust them yet. But I know I'm off in the wrong direction when I'm overworking a passage. Just scraping off and starting over is what I'm learning; I'm also finding the simplest stroke is always the best.

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  8. You did a beautiful job with this lovely lady, Susan. You can almost see her dress moving!! Wonderful job!

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  9. Talk about glow! Really nice Susan!

    I have been through everything you have described here! I have learned to keep working a painting and tell myself often to "Never give Up"! However there are still those that get wiped....and more rarely now, those that get tossed into the "Frisbey Pile"!..=]

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  10. I love your sunny female who is happily splashing in the water. That will sell in no time. She is sexy... but wholesome.
    Well, I mostly paint in "one sitting"...but my new guru is telling me I should also do some paintings in stages. Painting in stages is pretty foreign to me, even though I have done it...I think I am now in the habit of painting "all at once" so when it doesn't work I usually scrap it.
    I'm glad you stayed with this painting that was giving you fits. You won. :)

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  11. Wonderful painting and full of life - love the title, too!

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  12. this is lovely Susan.
    In my paintings if I work through the part where it doesn't seem like it's coming together I may be rewarded with a good painting, but if, in the end it's a lousy painting I will generally wipe it off. I'm talking about small paintings here. We'll see how it goes with larger works which I'm about to embark on!

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  13. wonderful post and an extraordinary painting! there's so much i can relate to in your post, trusting ones instincts is the only way to grow. and this is one of my favorite paintings of yours. i love her stride, that forward foot is perfect, i can't stop looking at it and the folds of the dress with the cool blue shadows is just perfect against the warm background! beautiful!

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  14. j'aime cette légèreté..et bravo pour la présence sur le blog de marie-monique!

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  15. Right ON, Susan! Lovely, painting, btw! I can't believe this was a struggle for you - you made it look easy (and I know figures are NOT!). Yes, I have found the 'I don't GIVE a rat's patootie anymore' to be the breaking point - where instinct and passion take over, and you can step back and say "Was it ME who painted that?"
    Thank you :)

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  16. Hi, Susan - reading this blog certainly hit home with me as I am trying to regain some of the skills I seem to have lost by not painting much over the last two months. I have come to the same conclusions - keep on painting. Just do it and soon the confidence will return. I love the painting, dont see the struggle and adore the title!

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  17. lovely, lovely work... so inspiring... I especially love the way you draw the figures and of course the fresh brilliant colours...
    take care

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  18. Very beautiful...love the feel of the painting...soft just like your subject

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  19. Hi Susan!... A marvellously colour and light -filled... sunny and upbeat painting... despite your trials suffered during its creation!

    These "pesky" paintings are the ones we later remember most fondly... because after all... the craft of painting... never ending... is about facing challenges and not merely making... "pretty pictures."

    Well done here... and we all have enjoyed your commentary too. Tells us that we're not alone in our daily struggles... nor our fragile self confidence from time to time!

    Good painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

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  20. I know just what you mean, I'm struggling with a large, complicated commission and praying it will come right in the end. If it wasn't a commission I might have been tempted to bin it!
    Your painting is beautiful, full of a carefree mood and colour nuances, you certainly pulled it off in the end, well done!

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  21. Hi Susan, your fabric is so light and elegant. I can't for the life of me accomplish that. Love this painting.

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  22. So beautiful, Susan. Your paintings flow so naturally. Loving your thoughts ... Haven't we all been there? It's all a part of the process isn't it? Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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  23. I think we all have felt that way. I wonder whether it's how we woke up that day or something we sometimes do when we start out a painting.

    Guess it doesn't matter ... Glad you persevered... It turned out wonderfully.

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  24. Simply beautiful...lovely work!

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  25. I've got a stack that I set aside. Sometimes I go back to them, sometimes they become practice canvas. Great painting by the way. Glad you didn't paint over this one!

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  26. Beautiful and alive with movement.
    Susan, thank you for commenting on my blog and following.
    Have a great day! Linda

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  27. Hey Susan, I am so glad you stopped by earlier to comment on my blog so that I could come here and see what you do! Yep, great entry here. It doesn't happen that often, but, it can challenge the bejeezuz out of you! Great inspirational entry, Susan. I will be mulling this over as I prepare to go into my new studio after Thanksgiving (Canadian).
    By the way, I LOVE your colour value palette here. Such a beautiful, airy, almost shimmery feeling. Beautiful!

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  28. lovely painting and very interesting write up!

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  29. wow, your painting is amazing! the flow of her dress, the water at her feet, just lovely!

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  30. This is stunning, Susan. I love the way you have painted the ethereal light and atmosphere!
    I also enjoyed your comments on working through frustration - I was conducting a workshop this weekend, and this was one of the very things we were discussing!

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  31. Wonderful, Susan! I like the complementary feel of the beautiful blue in this piece!

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  32. I relate this to writing.There are times I have to slash whole chapters and it feels so much better after I do --I can see more clearly what needs to be done but that approach comes only after much frustration.

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  33. Beautiful painting Susan, glad you persevered! We all know exactly what you're saying, isn't it the truth. I love how soft the edges are around her feet,giving that carefree splashing through the water feeling.

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