It often takes an outside voice to help you get where you want to be.
In my painting class, I was struggling to paint a Paris subway platform. You could barely see the electrical cables and dark rails at the bottom, several people waiting in front of two huge posters, a guy walking by on the right, and, on the sides, the station name in blue and white tile. It was going pretty well and I’d painted some good parts, but the overall was not working.
I wasn’t depressed about my ability. I just didn’t like the painting and could not figure out how to solve a problem, that, no matter how long I stared at the painting, I couldn’t see.
A friend came over to dinner, a painter, and he took one look at it and said, “well, here’re your problems. First of all cut the bottom two and a half inches off the panel. Your composition is bottom heavy. That’ll bring your horizon down, away from the middle.”
Horizon in the middle?! That’s not only boring, it’s the biggest boneheaded beginner mistake on the artistic planet. I knew not to do that, knew it was wrong and yet, I couldn’t see it. The second he said it, I thought, “duhh…”
But I hadn’t seen it. He did. I listened.
Next, he said, “that guy on the right side…”
“The blurry guy?”
“Yeah. He pulls our eye away from the interesting part of the composition.”
He was 1,000% correct. The blurry guy was the best part of whole painting. He was walking along the subway platform and was blurred. I’d nailed it. Everyone in class loved the blurry guy. Me too.
I held up my hand and blotted him out. The whole painting fell into place. Without the blurry guy and imagining the bottom part gone, it worked. It wasn’t done, but it wasn’t wrong anymore.
One New Year’s resolution I’ve kept, that I highly recommend, “If you ask for advice… take it.”
I killed the blurry guy, my darling. Best thing in the painting. When I painted over him, it felt so good because without him, the painting was better!
Just like writing!
I was lucky enough to have someone look at my work who knew what they were talking about. They brought something to the table I was not capable of. The instant he said what the problem was, I saw it too. But without his voice, I couldn’t see it.
Because I’m used to getting criticism on my work, I didn’t argue. I just agreed, smiled, and thanked him profusely.
