Dianna Cates Dunn » Blog

Two years ago, it was signed, varnished, hanging on my wall and listed on my website. A completed painting titled "You Touched Me". Or so I thought at the time. But two weeks ago, I took it down off the wall and made modifications to it. No, I truly didn't think the original painting bad, but it seemed to always whisper to me that it could made better. One of my personal credos is KISS, Keep It Simple, Silly. However, there are times while working on a piece,  I fall in love with every inch of the painting and lose the ability to see the whole. That, I later determined, is what happened on this piece. As infatuated as I was, it took me a LONG TIME before I was able to take off my rose colored glasses and analyze "You Touched Me"  a bit more objectively. Finally what became clear for me is that this painting was just too busy to have the impact I wanted it to.  It simply lacked enough negative space.

Sooooooo......first I carefully removed as much of the original varnish as possible without removing the paint. (Not an easy task!) Then out came the white gesso. At this point, I could have experimented with what areas needed to be left as is verses those that needed to be simplified by placing the painting under a clear piece of glass or Mylar and then experimenting on that surface. HOWEVER, I was in a particularly bold mood, so I went directly to the canvas with my gesso. Note: I had already determined the primary section of the piece that I wanted to keep, so I felt pretty impowered!  Within just a hour or two, I had resolved the issues I originally had with the painting and saw that be making it less busy and more simple, I had given the piece much more impact.

"You Touched Me" AFTER

So saying "when" is not always a simple or speedy thing to do when in the throws of creating a piece. Stepping back from the process to determine when 'enough is enough' can take discipline and patience......two virtues not high on my list of personal attributes.  However, when I apply them the results are simply satisfying!