the blank canvas
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! You can’t run, you can’t hide…it’s BLANK CANVAS!!! or, maybe that’s just how it feels for me right now. Sometimes I dive into paintings head-first with no fear or procrastination. Other times (like now), I do everything in my power to not start a new painting. I frame all of the old paintings that have been sitting for months un-framed, catch up on blogging, regretfully purchase Diablo III, and even paint art-sticks:
To be fair, I do kind of dig the art-stick (she’s 5 feet tall and her name is Cotton-Candy). But the point is I have been doing everything in my power to NOT start my new painting this time, and I have a theory why. So my last painting, I was really, really happy with (something that doesn’t often happen to me). I thought it was successful from a visual and art-theory standpoint. I thought it had nice color, movement and is one of the favorite pieces I have ever, ever done…and that has scared the shit out of me. I can’t speak for all creative-types, but for me I think there is a deep-seated fear that paintings like that last one are big flukes. That the next one and all of the following ones will be crap, or at the best mediocre…because where that last one came from, I’m not sure.
I’d love to hear some other creatives weigh in on this. Do you think it is harder to start a new piece after a success or a failure? What are other people’s experiences with the blank canvas?
