The process of painting

Leaving

Painting for me is a purely hands-on process. No matter the bright ideas and elaborate planning prior to taking up the brush, the finished product rarely has any association with the original concept. Quite often I just have to start something and let it develop on its own, even if it involves deconstruction of the whole image at some stage. It often does.

In this series of photos, taken during the creation process of a recent painting, there are only vague suggestions of the final painting in the first few brush strokes. I may even have lost a potentially good work of art somewhere around photo number three. So be it. I cannot determine the creative process. I just have to let it happen.