PAINTING - LIKE WAR?

A frustrating day, doing battle with a self portrait. A recent Radio 4 programme, 'Churchill's other lives', brought to my attention his charming little book, 'Painting as a pastime' which I subsequently purchased on ebay for £8 and read. Not much advice for the artist, but many cute anecdotes. The radio programme mentioned Churchill's first submission to the RA in the early 40's under the name David Winter. Looking at his work from the period I can draw one of two conclusions. Either someone at the RA blew the gaff on his pseudonym to get him in, or the standard of entries has improved considerably in the intervening period. He went on to exhibit over 50 paintings in subsequent years. Anyway, the point is, on page 19 he says "painting a picture is like fighting a battle". Probably the most reliable source for such a comparison! Makes the battle I lost today less painful!