The Sunday Post-Another Pair of Eyes

Sometimes , it is good to have another pair of eyes look at a painting before we call it finished.
I have made a practice of having my husband look at the pieces that have some architectural elements incorporated, as he was in the construction industry for many years.

It is a general rule of thumb to have your verticals straight...unless it is a dilapidated building, or for a special effect. Sometimes roof lines can be a bit tricky, as in this rendering of farm buildings. It passed muster, and I was able to finish the piece. " Honey Dript Morning", pastel, 18x24.

Another genre that I want to run past someone is in my classic car paintings.
They are fun to paint...but I know that the details, if put in, need to be right.

So, I usually ask my son, a collector and car buff whether or not the particular model is right.I recall that I needed to make a change on the rear fins with this one. Again, I could get away with skewed proportions, for example, if I were doing a more expressive, or looser rendering, but such was not the case, so things needed to be in the right place. "Wig Wam Dawn", oil, 16x20.

Now, as a landscape painter, I paint a lot of trees, but I sometimes have the tendency to make the overall shape a bit too rounded. I was actually doing a demonstration with a line of trees in the background . I made an adjustment to one of them, and a student commented " Oh good, I was wondering when you were going to fix that lollipop!" I had not been aware of the shape until that point...and from then on, I looked at my trees with new eyes.

So, from that point I am careful to have an asymmetry in my tree shapes.I am very grateful for that remark made ! " Deep Canyon Green", pastel, 18x12.

At this point , most of my paintings are completed without any other eyes on them, until sometimes towards the finishing stage. All throughout the painting process, I need to have my own new eyes on the piece. So, often, I put the painting aside , especially in the late

afternoon in the studio, so that I can look at the piece with fresh eyes the next morning. "Padre's Poppies" is a piece that took several painting sessions to complete. At a point, I thought it was finished, so put it aside. It was actually a few weeks later, when I realized that I wanted a softer, warmer look, so I glazed parts, and softened some edges more. Then I was happy with the depiction of the golden California light that I was after !

So, fresh eyes are an important part of the painting process. Whether it is from an expert that can help with technical elements, an objective observer, or your own eyes with a fresh outlook, new eyes can help. After all, our work is meant to be viewed!