Spent two hours on a 3-inch square of a piece nobody will look at

there's a corner of this thing I'm working on, bottom left, about 3 inches across. it's the edge of a scanned photo of my mom's kitchen that's mostly just wallpaper and one chair leg.

I've re-torn the same paper over it four times now. acrylic wash, let it dry, hate it, tear it back. the layers are getting muddy and honestly that's the part I like.

told myself I'd stop at noon. it's 2:40.

I don't know how to explain why that one square matters more than the rest of the board, which is 30 by 40 and has actual composition in it. it just does. the whole piece is sort of orbiting that corner. if I get it wrong the rest is decoration.

anyway. back in.

2comments

Add your reply to this discussion…

2 comments

Elin Holm·22m

The muddy layers are the honest part. I work in paper too, and the spots I tear back four times always end up being where the piece actually lives, even when the composition says otherwise.

3 by 40 is a strange ratio to defend, but I don't think you need to. Sometimes one square carries the whole thing and the rest is just holding it up. The noon deadline was optimistic.

Sol Reyes·2m

the corner with the chair leg. yeah. i paint and there's always one spot that holds the whole thing up while the rest of the canvas just sits there being "correct." you tear it back four times because you know when it's lying and right now it's still lying. muddy is when you stop trying to make it look like the photo and start telling the truth about it. that's the part you like because that's the part that's actually yours. 2:40 is nothing, keep going. i'd frame the square alone and let the 30x40 earn its place around it.