As I was posting, this story came to mind:
We used to have a beautiful Sheltie named Blue. He often needed a walk so we would make a circuit of the neighborhood.... but I'd get bored. As a result, I would pick up rocks to throw at telephone poles. Keeping loose track of my hits and misses something very interesting happened. At night, when I could barely see a thing, I would hit the poles about 80% of the time. In broad daylight, when the pole was in plain sight, I'd hit it 45-50% of the time.
How can this be? Did lack of visual detail allow more accuracy because it simplified the world, eliminating unnecessary information? Did the lack of light take away the pressure of having to make a hit?
Glacier Park, August. It had been a long day of painting but, spotting an easy turnout, I thought maybe there was at least one more painting in me. The only place to set up was on top of a large boulder in the center of the stream....but I had to keep one hand on the easel so it wouldn't slip off.
By the time I finished there was very little light and it was seat of the pants painting. The colors on the palette were almost invisible. I couldn't see a thing...and yet here are the results.
Whacko! Another telephone pole.
Direct hit with that story!!!
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes thinking gets in the way of painting...or hitting telephone poles. Love those greens.
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