Ramalama, wipadudu bootie! Ut Ut 2

Sorry I missed a day. I am traveling, at midnight I arrived at the private home where I was staying. They didn't have an Internet connection so I went to bed. Tonight I am back, blogging and traveling is difficult sometimes. I didn't get lazy or lose my discipline, I just couldn't get on line. I will see if I can find and post a baby animal to make it up to you.

Above is an Emile Gruppe. I have posted a few over the last days and I want to speak a little about loose painting. The famous quote from Richard Schmid is that "loose is how a painting looks and not how it was made", is right on target. Loose paintings work not because they are loose but DESPITE being loose. They are loose, BUT they still contain enough accuracy and control that they are little wonders. WE are amazed at the magic of how this abbreviated thing can say so much. It is the slight of hand, the amazement at seeing the rabbit come out of the hat that is the thrill. Good loose painting makes the viewer want to supply the things that make the painting whole.

But in the hands of weak draftsmen loose painting becomes sloppy painting. The people who paint well loosely are often later in their careers, or have drawn casts, or done portraits, something that has provided them with the drawing chops to actually end up with the rabbit and not something that should better have remained in the hat.
I think if you want to be a loose painter, you should learn to draw tightly first. Economy of means gradually acquired will make strong loose paintings. Just working fast and sloppy has you hoping for happy accidents. Watercolor painters of a certain sort trade in those, but oil painters seldom do. I believe that;

NOTHING GOOD GETS INTO A PAINTING BY ACCIDENT.

You don't imagine that you could play a great piece of music by lucky accident, or build a piece of fine furniture or replace a mitral valve in a patients heart using happy accidents. I think that people who wait for happy accidents hope they will be able to do things that are very hard without learning how. That attempts to shrink art to fit your abilities, rather than grow your abilities to meet the requirements of art. I wouldn't look for success in luck, instead better to put your faith in knowledge and skill, practice, experience and persistence.

I will return and dissect this painting tomorrow.