I don’t know what that feels like anymore. RFT is a mantra I try and apply to everything I do in life. I often achieve this, but not when it comes to painting. It seems to me that one of the key qualities a painter needs is the willingness to fail an infinite number of times whilst at the same time suppressing the desire to destroy what is in front of them out of sheer frustration. I find that if I can paint through the pain barrier then I am usually rewarded with a more interesting and compelling picture on the other side. I think I have just passed this point and it is starting to make more sense as a landscape. I like the flatness of the view and the way the background is tilted up. I wanted to get rid of the sky in this painting as it often seems to me a bit of a ‘filler’ that creates a too familiar format for a landscape painting. I also like the way the far distant acid green hedges seem to float on the red earth, I may push this effect a bit further.
View across a field. Day 5