How many artists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Much better. Underpainting done. Boys remain, rocks have changed.

I decided to take one more look at Friday’s painting before scraping out the boys on the rocks and repainting them. I used Photoshop to analyze the painting; it’s much easier to hit CTRL-Z than spend three hours repainting something you shouldn’t have changed.

Turns out that the problem wasn’t the kids; it was the foreground rocks. I should have realized that, since on Saturday Carol Thiel told me she didn’t think the perspective worked, and she’s almost always right.

Jane Bartlett stopped by at lunchtime yesterday. I kvetched at her that when painting from an office chair (still a temporary necessity) I can’t get far enough back from my painting. Jane suggested that if I turned my easel 30°, I could step out onto the landing and get a better sense of the big picture. Now, why didn’t I think of that?

When I was done beating my head against the wall, Sandy shifted my easel for me. Four artists, one easel, and I’m back in business.

My easel, rotated.

So, back to the original question:

Q. How many artists does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Two. One to do it and one to say, “Pfft! My four-year old could’ve done better than that!”

A. Three. One to pile hundreds of light bulbs in the corner and smash them, one to glue light bulbs to an embalmed shark, and one to rail against the darkness.

A. Four. One to change it, and three to reassure him about how good it looks.

Let me know if you’re interested in painting with me in Maine in 2014 or Rochester at any time. Click here for more information on my Maine workshops!