Lamb – 3/4 progress

It was impossible to sit still last night – so I spent a few good hours painting instead.

‘Lamb’ is almost finished. This is the point where I usually stop, and start distressing, then do some more over painting after the distressing has gone down.

The distressing always makes me a bit anxious. I think it’s important though, and for me it adds meaning and depth to the painting. I distress canvasses at the moment to express experience and learning on the part of the character in the painting – that they have lived, survived, prospered, and have secrets.

At the point of distressing, the painting is almost resolved visually, so it makes me anxious that I’ll stuff it up with my attack. Somehow it’s always worked so far, but there’s always the chance it could go the other way……. I try to remember the rule that to make a painting better you need to break it.