Majestic Faces: That Inner Voice

Over 10 years ago, an animator shared with me how the change in just one line on a drawing changes the entire picture. I believed him, but had not experienced it. These enclosed studies have been very serendipitous. A new story emerges simply by exposing a line, or rendering shadows in select places another version doesn't have. The use of color, values, scale. The largest lion...has an entirely different feeling than the other two. He's also 4 feet tall! 

Majestic studies 1 & 2: 24x24, Majestic 3: 48x36

We cannot forget The Queen! 40x30

Really love the light on this, eerie how one eye is lit up, the other lies in shadow....the huntress. Simplicity; it's taken 4 years in oil painting to feel "right" exposing the original sketch in the finished piece - work this transparent. That nagging critic on the shoulder..."Just one more thing, one more..." So you work, & rework, work some more. Suddenly without knowing where exactly you did it, what made the work "alive" has disappeared beneath the changes....the animal staring back is lifeless. It may appear finished to some....but the life is gone. And you know it. You can't revive it. There is no where to go but back to starting over...and bury this one. 

The secret behind a good painting - is not to think about it! Your voice has to direct; not the critic's.

Why don't we listen more to that intuitive inner voice? Dare to try something different - have a little faith? I suppose fear; of failure, to the critic, peers. But what about the fear of failing to ourselves? So often I see this overshadowed, less than. Criticism will always be present, whether one decides to try or not. One must not be afraid; failures must happen in order for success.

Years after my animator friend revealed it - this computer "cookie" regarding "the line" was pulled out of my filing cabinet. I hope your ah ha! moments in life also have an oportunity. Life is so much richer with them shared! Have a wonderful week my dear friends and art lovers!

A man paints with his brains and not with his hands. -Michelangelo