Art as metaphor

Oil painting happens in layers. I recently applied this metaphor to my own life, and although my personal examples won’t mean anything to you, perhaps this exercise will be useful to you.

The wash – start by thinning the paint and spreading a thin layer over the whole canvas. “Sketch” the outline of the main objects by removing the wash with a dry paper towel. At this stage you only have a general picture of what the objects of the painting will look like. But you do have some idea of what the painting is about, the scope, size, and composition.

The first layer of color – Look at the colors in the objects and the background. Apply these colors, in some cases blending as you go. The painting will start to look like something, but it will probably lack depth. Usually I am not patient enough, not “seeing” things clearly, and in a rush I apply too much paint in the wrong colors or wrong placements. At that point, I either have to scrape some off or wait until I can paint over my mistakes. 

Pause – the paint has to dry before adding another layer. You can’t rush the process. Rush = mush. 

Definition – Start to add shading to recesses and light to forward areas. 

Pause – notice what is now visible, what “pops.”

Details – Add next layer of highlights, shadows, or accent colors.

You might be able to do things a bit more efficiently if you stop and pay attention before plowing ahead.

Final stage – it doesn’t look quite like I had envisioned or hoped. Sigh, but good enough.

Metaphor 

• Initially I may have only a vague picture of what I want to do or where I am going. As I get an idea, I block out a general composition, but it is very loose at this stage.
• I cheerfully start to fill in the first layer of color, usually prematurely and usually not thought through. Hmm. Sometimes it means a reversal (scraping the paint, scrapping the plan). Sometimes it means “happy little trees” (or rocks, or whatever). Since I have to pause for several days while the paint is drying, I take time to look more carefully at the colors and the definition. 
• When I paint again, I may do some “subtractive” shading that pushes things to the background, or shows the contours around objects. This means differentiating between figure and ground. In life I’ve found it helpful to realize not everything can be “figure” forever. 
• Details are just that – details. They are little highlights that give an object dimensionality where the light hits it, or those pops of color sprinkled in sparse amounts. 

Final stage – In life the outcome often doesn’t look quite like I had in mind or hoped for. There is always some resignation or recognition of my limitations. And yet, I tried something. I created something that previously did not exist, I learned something new in the process.