Slow work, and the mistakes that finish a painting

Oil painting cannot be rushed. Each layer must dry. The work teaches patience, or it teaches nothing. There is no shortcut to a slow medium — and there shouldn't be.

Why the middle is where most paintings are lost

Every painting has a difficult middle. The first marks are exciting. The final marks are decisive. But the middle — the long, uncertain stretch where the painting is neither beginning nor end — that is where most paintings die.

The middle is uncomfortable because the painting is no longer just an idea, but it is not yet a resolved object either. It is a teenager. It is awkward. It demands patience.

On welcoming mistakes

A mistake on a canvas is not a problem. It is information. Sometimes the painting tells you, that colour does not belong here. Sometimes it tells you, that line is not what I am about. The painter's job is to listen.

Some of my favourite passages began as accidents I refused to correct.

Knowing when to stop

A painting is finished when nothing more needs to be said. This sounds obvious, but it isn't — because there is always one more thing the painter wants to add. One more highlight. One more glaze. One more proof of skill.

Restraint is the last gesture. Walk away. Come back the next day. If the painting still works, sign it.