So much of my pleasure in writing poetry (which I do often) comes in the process of revision, getting the words right, the phrases appropriate, and the sounds of the words musical. It has always amazed me that so much pleasure can come through revising and revising until it finally seems right. It’s work! But it’s such pleasure!
When I draw, the quickly sketched lines I begin with often seem better than the slower considered ones, giving the result a freshness that’s hard to keep with longer work. So where is the pleasure of revision in visual work? It’s in the adjustments of values and colours and the edges of shapes. Sometimes the big concept has to get changed, but that’s usually near the beginning, getting the over-all composition approximately right, the balances of large and small feeling good, the felt sense of being on track. The subsequent revisions are balancing acts, getting it to look really “right” in all the areas, large and small.
The fun is revising so that the freshness stays there!