From Richard Diebenkorn’s “Notes to myself on beginning a painting”

  1. Attempt what is not certain.  Certainty may or may not come later.  It may be a valuable delusion.
  2. The pretty, initial position which falls short of completeness is not to be valued–except as a stimulus for further moves.
  3. Do search.  But in order to find other then what is searched for.
  4. Use and respond to the initial fresh qualities but consider them absolutely expendable.
  5. Don’t “discover” a subject–of any kind.
  6. Somehow don’t be bored–but if you must, use it in action.  Use its destructive potential.
  7. Mistakes can’t be erased, but they can move you from your present position.
  8. Keep thinking about Pollyanna.
  9. Tolerate chaos.
  10. Be careful only in a perverse way.

from “The Art of Richard Diebenkorn” by Jane Livingston, page 115.

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