Surprise!

    This entry was originally posted on Friday, December 7, 2012 

Another way to get a fresh perspective on your painting is to surprise it.

To do this, put it away in a dark bag (black garbage bag works well).

Now forget about the painting for a few days or better yet, a few weeks.

 

Then one day pull the painting out, set it on the easel and try to remove the bag without looking at it.

(Or ask someone else to do this for you)

Walk out of the room without looking at the painting.

Then suddenly walk right back in.

Surprise the painting in the act of being a piece of art.

SURPRISE!!

 

What was your first impression?

Did it WOW you? 

Or did you suddenly figure out what was bothering you about the painting?

 

It is that blink theory that is working in this case.

It is the act of thinking without thinking as written about by Malcolm Gladwell in his aptly named book, Blink.

 

I have long believed in this theory about my own work long before I read the book.

However, the book is food for thought and most importantly, 

works well when checking to see if a painting is done or not.