At the Beginning

The block-in process for this painting seems to be slow at this point. I feel like I have not proceeded enough in laying color down to really start the fun strokes. I like to call these happy strokes, which will lead to a finished expression of three longhorns on a hill. I’ve heard some artists call these “accidental” strokes, but I like “happy” better.

The reason is when I step back to look at a painting in progress, I truly exclaim “my goodness, I have no idea where that stroke came from.” I can’t get over how when you realize what has happened, you are really, quite amazed, or as with me, somewhat enamored with “who did that?” – these are very happy moments. It could be what I experienced was a clairvoyant moment, since I have no recollection of having created the strokes in the right places. I read a long time ago that one of the Hudson Valley Artists, Robert Henri, said that as artists, we have clairvoyant moments, but the key to painting is to have more of them.