DON'T LET YOUR GUN SMOKE

Blog number 443 ******** 02 December 2010

I have a very low opinion of experts for many very good reasons obtained from experience. The thing about them is that they are immune from learning anything new in their fields. They already know, so they can't learn. They are also usually unintentionally funny. Which I will get to in a moment. First though, an example of what I mean.

Back when I was learning to oil paint, I bought one of those "How To Paint" books. This one was called, "Coming To Light." The object was to array oil paints in a manner associated with the color wheel and the addition of white to the colors. When one took a palette knife through two or three of the colors and then smeared it upon the canvas, it would create an effect that looked like what the author called, "jewels." There was no talent, no "gift" necessary in order to use this method. You slopped on the paint and then arranged the painting so that it looked kinda like a man, a horse, whatever - like a Rorschach picture. Abstract painting.

There was open art contest in Sacramento one year and the winning entry was a painting that used this method. I knew the method used came from the afore-mentioned "how to" book as soon as I saw the picture of it in the paper. The art critic who judged the paintings even made the comment that the winner's painting looked like glowing jewels. I, who was not an expert, knew the etiology of the painting. The expert, who most likely would not be caught dead looking in one of those books, was completely ignorant of what he was judging as great art.

Now for the funny experts. I was playing a game on my computer, the TV behind me was on Fox News and I heard a tease that went, "Why do people have one night stands? Doctors say they now have the answer." Hah!.