Richard Diebenkorn's ten rules
for beginning a painting:
1. Attempt what is not
certain. Certainty may or may not come later. It may then be a
valuable delusion.
2. The pretty, initial position
which falls short of completeness is not to be valued--except as a stimulus to
further moves.
3. Do search. But in
order to find other than what is searched for.
4. Use and respond to the
initial fresh qualities but consider them absolutely expendable.
5. Don't "discover" a
subject of any kind.
6. Somehow don't be bored but
if you must, use it in action. Use its destructive potential.
7. Mistakes can't be erased but
they move you from your present position.
8. Keep thinking about
Pollyanna.
9. Tolerate chaos.
10. Be careful only in a perverse way.
My good friend and great writer Tony Van Witsen sent this list to me.
Stay tuned, I hope to apply these rules for beginning as I enter into a new contracted project. More details on that later. - Hugs from the Inkpot
Interesting. It always seems that the "Artist's Way" involves: 1) Do something, but do nothing, 2) Think, but don't think, 3) Look, but don't look, 4) Always be counter to anything normal, 5) Do nothing intentionally, 6) Be disturbing, upsetting...
ReplyDeleteI say all this tongue-in-cheek...but I really say nothing....
:-] (but I really mean :-[ )....