Essays on Painting

Frequently anything surrounding the subject or group is not considered
at all and frequently left blank. Sometimes the statement is made, “Foreground
is what I like doing”, and its corollary, “Background is what I don’t
want to think about now.”
When the time comes to think about how to fill in the white space surrounding
the main subject of what has now become an illustration rather
than a picture, the first of the technical problems often arises. The painter
can lose interest and carelessness ensues.
The way of painting is the way of trial and error. There is no
shortcut. Each of us starts from zero and cannot resume where
another left off. Each false start, each outer failure, is part of the
fabric of an art career. If you do not have the grit to confront your
own ignorance and if you are not willing to ruin acres of paper, you
are in the wrong field. (Webb 1991 P.2)
COMING TO TERMS WITH MAKING MISTAKES
The saddest thing about drawing and painting is that you can never learn
anything from doing a thing right first time. It is only when you have made
the most almighty mess up that you really learn anything.
People want to improve their skills when painting but it is hard for some
to accept criticism. This is best illustrated by the sort of language they use
as they show you their work.
“It’s only rough of course.” “I don’t intend this to be the finished work.”
“It’s not very good of course.” And many other sorts of self deprecating
comments. This is often a hangover from their experiences while they were
at school. Maybe there is a climate there, or just a misunderstanding by the
students that somehow getting anything wrong is “bad” and getting a thing
right is “good”.
Many art teachers work in a climate in which this point of view is allowed
to continue unchallenged. I think if it was explained to the students that
“getting a thing right” doesn’t necessarily teach them anything. It’s usually
“getting a thing wrong” and overcoming it, that enables us to learn from
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