In painting as in writing, boredom is the one factor that can kill a piece. To finish and have it bore an audience is bad enough. To finish and find yourself too bored to bother hanging it is worse.

And yes, it’s true that boredom is in the eye of the beholder. Another truth is that we should never judge a piece too soon.

When we’ve been striving for a particular outcome, concentration can give us tunnel vision. Put it aside for a while, look at it with fresh eyes and perhaps the outcome we achieved is even better than expected, better than the outcome we’d hoped for. But sometimes I get to the end and set the work aside and even with fresh eyes I’m underwhelmed.

That was the case with “All Squared Up.”

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So I attacked the painting again.   [image error]

I’m still not certain which I prefer. I like the simplicity of the original, but I find more energy in the new one.

Fortunately, in this era of digital capture, the original version is still available for prints.

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