To touch or not to touch ... that is the question.

Do you ever go retouch old paintings after many years ? Is this a good or bad thing ? As we progress our style, interests & color pallet may change, often quite dramatically. So does mixing ones old style with with ones new style actually work ? I suppose one of the most important questions artists ask is "when is a painting actually finished ?"

My older works used to be more subtle in tone with a more monotone & unsaturated palette. My later works are far bolder, brighter with more contrast. I think that when I now look at some of my older works (though my new eyes) their subtlety irritated me a little bit. This is probably why I retouched this piece.

I used to start many of my works using only two colors. Then would drybrush and glaze color on the top. Part of the reason for this is because my eye was not initially as well trained as it is now to see tonal relationships between objects.

This painting is about war. There was allot of unrest in my home country in South Africa when I was growing up and it affected me for some reason even though my siblings & many of my friends at the time were sheltered and did not notice it as much. I have great empathy with those people living unstable countries. I have had an obsession with researching global events and the multi- faceted aspects of the system from a young age.

This piece portrays a doll, a soldier and a gate. One you pass through that gate you will never be the same.

The work is an oil painting called "Paradigm Shift. Innocence lost." Oil on Canvas, 111 cm x 101 cm.

One of my art students once commented that she thinks the doll is "Chucky meets Britany Spears." LOL !