December 13, 2008
Ruined a good study this morning. Pushed it too far. Someone said, "Genius is the art of making things simple." Man, too much of the time I am the opposite of that.

When you think about it, most wonderful things are simple. A barn. A starry night. A smile. Good artists know what to take out, and they keep removing detail until only the critical items remain.

Sounds easy. Ha.

Redeemed myself somewhat after lunch. Working on a likeness of Garrett, done in the classical portraiture style, with big blocks of black with the face and hands, islands of subtle color.

Also not as easy as it sounds. Ha.

Well, at least I can laugh about it. Gee, I wonder what Thurber has to say about this?

"Humor is a serious thing. I like to think of it as one of our greatest natural resources, one that must be preserved at all cost."
—James Thurber