Approaching the finish of the picture on which I’m working I became aware that something was not quite right. It wasn’t possible to point to anything very obvious, such as a badly-drawn figure, that leaped out at me and demanded to be corrected. The problem was a niggle. I was really pleased with the general idea, and taking the picture bit by bit, each area seemed OK. I spent ages just sitting and looking. Yesterday I had the vague idea that perhaps the colour balance in one part of it was wrong, and spent quite a long time altering that. This morning I took it off the easel and located it in a different place, wondering if the change of context would enable me to see things differently. I’ve deliberately not looked at it for a while, hoping that when I just catch sight of it out of the corner of my eye, or in passing, the fault would register.
After hour upon hour of attention I think that perhaps the source of the problem is becoming clearer. I believe that it is a question of colour, and that an area of the picture that has an amount of violet in it is too extensive. Violet is a warm colour, and tends to make things look as if they move towards the viewer. In fact, what I want is for that particular area of the surface to appear to recede from the viewer. The violet is OK in part of the picture, but it needs to be confined to a far smaller area.
The frustrating thing is, however, that we have workmen in today, replacing a window. They are on the verge of completing the job, and I know that as soon as they leave my wife will expect us to throw our energies into cleaning up the dust they have inevitably created. It does look as if I am going to have to live with the niggle for a little longer, until I can put everything else aside, concentrate on the task, and finally get it right …. I hope!