A Sideways Look

My high school art teacher made a big impression on me. I still remember many of her sayings from 50 years ago or so. One I think of nearly every day is that there is no such thing as a painting that cannot be fixed, but there are plenty of paintings that artists gave up on. For the most part, I find this to be true for me. If I am persistent enough I can get most of my sketches to a point where I am OK with them.

This sketch is an example. I began it last week and then abandoned it, thinking the errors were too significant to overcome. This evening I noticed it again as I leafed through my sketchbook and I imagined my old teacher saying, ‘finish it’. I put it on my easel, made changes to the hair, skin and background, and, just like she said, found that I do like it after all.

This is gouache and pastel sketch on black paper.