Artist - Part 8 – Critiquing my own Work… “I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!” ... Mugatu

This weekend I was planning to do some painting but Saturday I was running around doing stuff I’d been putting off for a month and Sunday I was ailing. Monday was a holiday, so I slept in until ten. It turned out to be a good thing because I then had enough sleep to think clearly and get something done. I headed out for some coffee at 11:00 and noticed that a florist was open! I decided to buy two roses and paint them.

I painted from about 1 to 8pm and finished the piece in one sitting… hmmm, how did that happen? By the time I was finished, I left with that old nagging artist feeling…what was I looking at?

What was I looking at? Sometimes you look at art you’ve done and you know it’s a good piece. Sometimes you think it’s great but it turns out to be crap. This painting fell into the “I can’t tell if it’s good or bad” group. This is the purgatory of self criticism. Self criticism is what I count on to improve and learn. If that is gone goofy... I’m screwed. I once did a self portrait back in my college days… I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad, I gave it away to an old teacher. When I saw it hanging a year latter, I was shocked at what a strong picture it was.

How to deal with the self criticism purgatory…
I usually have to avoid looking at the painting for a while… cover it, turn it around. I have become too close to the work to see it on a professional level. I think sometimes a painting becomes “parts” and disconnected from the painter.