When I woke up this morning, the sun was partially hidden behind stripes of clouds. It was startling.

It’s tricky to get set up to paint and capture the view before it changes. During a sunrise, even 10 minutes can make a world of difference. So, I worked quickly, relieved that I’d bought a tube of Payne’s gray this past week; it was the right base for the clouds, and –since it was already mixed–it saved me time.

Anyway, I painted this oil sketch on a 6″ x 6″ gallery-wrapped canvas. (That’s one that doesn’t need a frame since the sides are smooth canvas and can be painted on as part of the art.) I’d underpainted it with cadmium red, and it was ready to use.

The painting came together quickly. I liked it.

I worked wet-on-wet. The paint was thick in spots, almost like frosting on a cake. It had little peaks, several smudges, and some of the underpaint showed through.

It wasn’t perfect, technically, but the energy in it was fresh and exciting.

But, with my previous success with a monotype… I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I pulled a print. Result? It wasn’t very good, and the painting faded as well. Ick.

So, I tried to recover the earlier energy. It just looked forced.

At that point, I had the good sense to put down the paintbrush and take a break.

Two hours later, I worked on it some more. This time, it improved significantly. (This is a work that really doesn’t convey well online.)

As I looked at the sketch from across the room–where its impression is best–I realized that my art is often like music for me.

That is, I tend to like music when bands (or performers) are unpolished and the energy is raw. When they deliberately acquire technical expertise, they often lose that sense of vitality and untamed power.

What comes to mind is the 1991 movie, The Commitments. The music in the movie was amazing. The same songs re-recorded for the ’soundtrack’ CD… they were more technically polished but the energy was lackluster by contrast.

So, I’m learning not to keep tweaking paintings past the point where the energy is good.