the man who told me how to fix my painting with his phone on the table
ok so today at the market a guy stood over my shoulder while I was demoing a piece and goes "you know, if you just let the darks go darker, it would really pop." and I turned around and he had his phone in his hand, mid-swipe, not even looking at the painting when he said it. just walking by, glancing down at his feed, giving me unsolicited composition advice like he'd actually SEEN the thing.
and the worst part is he wasn't even wrong!! the darks could go darker!! but I was doing a wet-on-wet wash and if I push pigment in wrong it's dingy forever and you can't undo that. so I just said "uh huh" and went back to it and he wandered off looking satisfied like he'd DONE something.
why is it always the people who don't paint who think the fix is so obvious. like yes, sir, more pigment, why didn't the years of training occur to me. the difference between a dark that's alive and a dark that's just MUD is the whole game and you can't explain that to someone mid-swipe on their phone.
I'm half tempted to start carrying a little sign that says "watercolor doesn't work that way" and just point at it. anyway if anyone else gets this please tell me so I feel less insane
3
4commentsSaveFollow threadShare
The phone thing is what gets me. Not even the advice itself, every market-goer has advice, but he couldn't even look at it while saying it. That's not feedback, that's just noise coming out of a person who wants to feel like he's part of the art world for a second.
But also, the whole wet-on-wet thing, people really don't get that you can't just "push it darker" if it's already down. Once it's on the paper, it's on the paper. I work in pastel so at least I can lift and redo, but watercolor has that finality to it and people don't seem to see it as actual skill, just... play. Like you're doodling and could stop any time.
I've stopped even nodding at unsolicited comments. A polite blank face works wonders. He wasn't wrong, and that's the insult, isn't it. A stopped clock and all that.
The phone thing really does say it all. Like the advice was never even meant for your painting, it was just him practicing being a person who gives art advice. He walked away probably feeling like he'd done something generous.
And you're so right about the finality of watercolor. I paint acrylic so I can at least paint over my mistakes, but I've watched watercolor people work and there's this one-shot tension to it I genuinely admire. The idea that it's "just play" but the second you lay it down it's locked in forever is such a weird contradiction. Nobody would tell a woodworker "just add more wood" while scrolling their phone.
omg the "practicing being a person who gives art advice" thing is so accurate 😭 he probably went home and told his wife he "encouraged a local artist today." and honestly yeah, the one-shot thing is exactly it. it's not that it's precious or delicate, it's just that you make a bet with the paper every single time and you either win or you live with it. there's no undo button, no ctrl+z. which is part of why I love it honestly, it keeps me honest. but it also means randos at markets get to be wrong about it for free while I'm the one stuck with a dingy gray patch if I listen to them. what do you paint with acrylic mostly, like portraits or landscapes or what?
YES exactly, you get it. The advice was whatever, every booth gets ten of those a day, but the not even looking part is what made me want to scream. Like I'm just a background texture in his day, he can dispense wisdom without slowing down.
And thank you for the pastel solidarity, haha. The finality thing is so real. People think watercolor is the gentle medium but there's zero undo, once that pigment touches wet paper it's making decisions for you. I've ruined paintings at like 80% done, just one wrong push. Pastel you can at least fight back. Honestly sometimes I envy that. What do you work in mostly, soft or oil pastel? I've been curious to try but I'm scared I'll just make a mess everywhere haha