Tuesday, November 03, 2015

The Elusive Something

The month of October has flown by and I feel like I've accomplished very little. Though I've been working hard in my journals and on a few canvases, nothing is truly completed as of now. I have a canvas that is VERY close to being done (I have a deadline at the end of the week I'm trying to meet), yet it still seems to need something.

Ah...the elusive Something. It's the one ingredient of Art that is just beyond your reckoning; just outside your comfort zone. You can hear it's whispers but can't make out what it's telling you. You can hear the familiar melody but can't quite place the lyrics.

It often happens to me when I fall in love with the background and have terrible reservations about covering it up. It occurs, as well, when I have a plan executed on the page but there's a space that annoys me or a pattern that seems out of place. Most often Something eludes me at the "in-between" place in my art. You may know the place; its just after you've decided the background is done but before you've decided on a focal point to highlight.

More often than not, the Something turns out to be spatters of paint for me. Sometimes, its a distress edge of ink or outlining/shadowing with Gelato. I wish the Something was more doodling or journaling but these Somethings don't often present themselves to me as I work.

The greatest question of all is When? When is the Something needed and when is the page/work finished? I never really know. Take, for example, the page spread below. I feel like it needs...Something.


As much as I feel it needs more, I also feel that it's done. I Love the gears in the back and the contrast of the black and orange. I like the shimmery teal highlights in the sprays. I feel like I've covered what I want and no more touchy...and yet Something still whispers. Splats? A touch of white? Words? I can't quite make out which Something seems right.



So this spread will stay like this for awhile longer. Maybe finished; maybe in need of...Something.
-Wy
"Creativity is not a competition."  --Autumn Sky Hall

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