Friday 26 October 2007

"Fools and bairns ..."

"... should never see things half done."

Or so my Gran always used to tell me. Which is not to imply that any of my faithful and appreciative readers are in any way fools or bairns. (Well, some of you might be bairns, and that in and of itself is not something to be ashamed of, we all gotta go through it.) But it's by way of getting to the fact that I worry sometimes about posting work in an unfinished state. It sometimes leads to kindly readers telling me how much they like the picture as it is.

If I say the sky is full of mud, it's because it's full of mud (although I admit photography may enhance the quality of the mud) and I intend to alter it. If I give a picture a title which includes words like "(1st pass)" or "(second day)" it's because I fully intend to work on it again and in all probability it will look quite a bit different. It would be as well to take this into consideration when handing out the bouquets.

Oh dear. Sorry to grump. Just ignore me. Continue to make appreciative noises all you want.

I guess I'm suffering from today's recognition that my high-minded determination to get rid of all the second-rate pictures in the studio has foundered so soon. I find myself with a charity auction, a Friends Xmas show and an ad hoc Figure 8 show making demands on me all at once. And I can't put work in those that might be wanted for the more important shows lined up for next year.

Which is why I've spent an hour or two today looking at old pictures, wondering whether they might pass muster if I maybe cut off six inches here or make a minor alteration there ...

Dammit, I'm just going to have to up my output.

Oh, and by the way, I reworked the sky of mud yesterday and will post the result here as soon as I can.

6 comments:

jafabrit said...

I think we can't help it, because what we see isn't what you envision :)

We also might be seeing what you can't because you have lived with it so long and can see the flaws.

Anonymous said...

If you dont like getting comments on unfinished work, then dont post it before it's done.

Anna said...

I enjoy seeing your work in progress and, if I produce the odd fatuitous response, put it down to enthusiasm.

harry bell said...

Jafabrit - I'm sure what you say is true. I know that what I see is always further down the line than what everyone else sees.

Sally - you may have a point. I'll take it under advisement. But please don't take unbrage.

Anna - never fatuous, believe me.

Anna said...

Did I really write fatuitous?? Must have been on the gin, apologies.

harry bell said...

Shurely shome mishtake ...