Herding sheep

One of the things that I was first taught upon my arrival at the Fenway studios in the mid 1970's was how sheep are herded. Ives Gammell passed on to me a way of doing things with this analogy. This is an important idea so listen up.

When you herd sheep, you don't go get the first sheep in the flock, pick him up and carry him all the way to the barn and then return for the next .

Nor do you go get the last sheep in the flock, carry him all the way to the barn and then go back for the next one. What you do is this.

YOU LOOK FOR THE FURTHEST BACK STRAGGLER,
AND BRING HIM UP TILL HE IS EVEN WITH THE REST OF THE FLOCK.
THEN YOU RETURN FOR
THE NEXT FURTHEST BACK STRAGGLER
AND BRING HIM UP TILL HE IS EVEN WITH THE REST OF THE FLOCK.

Because you don't take that furthest back straggler all the way to the barn, and you bring him forward so he is again moving along with the rest of the flock, the whole flock moves along as a unit. You, as the shepherd are always looking for that furthest back straggler.

Here's how that applies to drawing or painting. When I am working on a piece I am always looking for my furthest back straggler, that is the part of my painting that is the least finished or most wrong. I work on that, I don't try to finish that area and then go on and finish the next area. I only work on it until it is as resolved as the rest of my painting, and then I look for my next furthest back straggler. This keeps the whole painting moving along as a unit, and it keeps me from having to connect different finished areas and finding they don't relate to one another.

As I bring each straggler forward to join the flock a new and often heretofore invisible straggler pops out to be advanced to the herd as well.The herding sheep method also helps prevent me from losing my UNITY OF EFFECT to the creation of lots of separate smaller images sewn together on one canvas.

The whole painting marches towards completion as a flock with no part being finished or ignored until it is completed. There are fine painters who work outwards from a single point to their completed picture ( like Richard Schmid who is a whole lot smarter than me ) and even some who have painted from left to right. I sometimes do these things myself. However as a basic working philosophy "herding sheep" is an excellent method. It is my default way of working and is certainly best for the less experienced practitioner.