Why Is Representational Oil Painting So Difficult--Revised Version

Painting is difficult because it requires that you see  everything in relation to everything else and paint it so.  There it is-- pure and simple.  Those who paint everything in relation to everything else paint well--those who can't or refuse to paint everything in relation to everything else paint pieces of things.  They paint the trees, but not the forest--they paint the fleas, but not the dog.  They are interested in eye lashes, but not the structure of the boney prominences that surround the eye cavity and create beautiful light planes.  They jump to painting highlights before establishing the large shapes and planes that lead up to the brightest light planes or "highlights".

In short, they seldom connect the dots, they never see the big picture, they can only take in what is immediately in front of them--they have no peripheral vision that allows them to see how things are interrelated.  Their canvas has no harmony of shape, no conversation of color, no direction that grips the soul.  They express no faith. They have no story to tell. They are satisfied with selling pathetic little postcards with their name on it.  They almost never get it--they don't see, they don't hear, they don't even smell the ink on the morning newspaper!  They don't serve art--their art serves them.  OK...so I am projecting my own confession--this is the mood that has possessed me lately.  I need a big picture, I need to connect the dots, and so on and so forth, and so what!  Thought you should know.  Who loves ya?--how do ya like me now?--come on!!  Don