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I am experimenting away and officially driving myself nuts trying to get this right. I am trying so hard to get down edge mastery, while at the same time still trying to find my style. This little guy is becoming a direct result of my frustration.
Over and over again it seems I take one step forward and two steps back with each painting. I really need to leave a post-it note on my easel to remember everything, but the most important thing I try to remember is to have fun. I may have said this a time or two before.
I feel like I am banging my head up against this wall waiting for a break-through in understanding. I just know that if I keep chiseling away one day a light bulb will go off.
I am an introverted extrovert, perhaps even an ambivert, but I hold more introvert qualities. I love quite nights with a good book or painting. I can go days without human contact and be perfectly at peace. Parties with unfamiliar faces make me quite reserved, and therefore I am not so good at talking to perfect strangers to promote myself as an artist.
This is where social media comes in. I can chat away, post and be much more active in general about promoting my work. If I want my post to gain more attention I simply click a button and away it goes for all to see and I don't have to say a word! IS social media an introvert's best friend? Could this possibly be the way for us to share what we love with the world without personal consequence? Could it also be my enemy? Keeping me so attached that I never learn how to break out of my shell. I want to become better at being able to talk to perfect strangers, I can't do that through a computer.
I have a love/hate with social media. It is like a necessary evil. Yes I am not much for socialization but I don't want to completely shut it out. Human interaction is so important to ignite our key senses that, well, make us human. You don't become a better painter entirely by reading about how to paint or thinking about how to be better; you must experience the thing!
2015 will be a year of less technology for me and more social interaction in-person. I want to dive into the depths and enjoy it so I can step out of my comfort zone and continue to grow as a person. The overwhelming joy I feel when I have spent a day painting with friends, sitting down to dinner discussing the learning experienced that day out in the field fills me like nothing else.
Pillars in the Sky | oil on linen
When I first started painting I painted from photos. The thought of painting from life or the out-of-doors was such an overwhelming thought at the time, yet now I find myself only wanting to paint from life or plein air. A photograph robs the stimulation of the senses that is part of the joy in experiencing the emotion you feel and convey in your work.
I found myself scrounging for a subject for my last challenge, looking all around for something that stirred my emotions. I sat still for a moment and there it was right in front of me, my dog sleeping so humbly on the couch. We carry such an emotional attachment to our pets and mine is no exception to constant spoiling and love.
I added some color around her with my coat and scarf, getting a look as I stirred her briefly from her slumber and took to the canvas. I had no rhyme or reason, while I listened to Richard Schmid on my tv, as to how I was going to paint it but just that I wanted the viewer to feel the emotions I have for this furry creature.
Rarely ever do I use such bold colors and I have to say it was quite enjoyable using some straight out of the tube and for once I didn't worry about whether this was going to be a good painting or a complete calamity. So often I find myself thinking before I paint, this one has to be sellable, and it places so much pressure that I often am extremely disappointed. I threw out all (well most) of the rules. There she is smack dab in the center of the canvas and on the horizon line, but she was where I wanted her to be.
So often I think we get so worked up over the success of a painting that we forget the importance of enjoying the process. Once I sat down and just went for it, I had so much fun playing with the color, and just putting it on the canvas and leaving it.
May your 2015 year be healthy, prosperous, full of color and love!
Nemea in Repose | 9"x12"
I am going to start off by admitting that I realize that I am behind yet again. The holidays are drawing nearer and the annual most stressful time-of-the-year has commenced. While trying to get as many projects done as possible outside of work, I am sorry to say my painting time has been sliced to a fraction at the moment, but I plan on catching up over the holiday break.
I have noticed lately that I have been drawn to more challenging subject matter, which is of course a good and a bad thing. Good for creating some brain work on how to tackle it, bad for frustration and potentially really bad paintings for a while, but that is how it goes.
One of my favorite quotes by Dan McCaw "There is no such thing as failed paintings, only failure to paint." is something I often think of when the going gets tough. It is important to remember that without failure there is no success, and if there is one thing I guarantee is that you will fail over and over again. It is those who accept this fact and use it as a learning experience and press on who will inevitably succeed. (I hope)
Weisenberger Bridge | 6"x8" | oil on canvas
Painting over old paintings is something I enjoy doing every now and then. I have never been one to waste a canvas or two, plus I just love the effect of letting the old painting seep through creating interesting variety and textures.
This week I played around with using thick paint. I pasted it on like butter and it was so interesting to see what different effects could be achieved using this technique. I must confess that I conserve paint far to often. Each tube is so expensive, to me at least, and I become afraid to use too much of it for fear of waste. Truth is I think I waste more paint this way, plus just look at those delicious textures that are created by using thick paint! How can you resist?!
The Dairy Barn | 7"x5" | $225
This week I decided to paint something I have never painted before, the beautiful Arizona desert. This point is near the Superstition Mountains. I am absolutely amazed at the splendor that is there. It's like a giant disguise for all the painful and deadly items that lay there, similar to one of Odysseus' sirens luring you in. The white piece in the front is nicknamed the 'Teddy Bear' cactus, and it is anything but nice and soft.
Needless to say I had a lot of fun creating this one with lots of layering with paint and color. I hope you enjoy it.
Very Superstitious | oil on canvas | 8"x6" | $250
Cottonwood Sunset | oil on linen | 9"x12" | NFS
Oil on canvas | 5"x7" | $200
For a while now I have been on this speed race to get better as fast as possible. While working a full-time job it isn't easy to not get burnt out really quick. I panic on nights that I don't study or paint thinking that one day of not doing these things is going to seriously set me back. All the while my local painting friends keep telling me to stop rushing and just take a breather, which is hard for me to do... I mean really REALLY hard.
My dogs surgery forced me to breathe. I couldn't paint; It just wasn't in me to enjoy myself while my dog was suffering. I read a book, looked at paintings (ok so I didn't really stop studying) and just sort of took it all in. I felt really guilty for not painting, but knew that it was necessary for me to slow down.
Then I noticed that I began to think about and understand the other side of painting. The movement, the importance, the mood, the REASON for painting. Why am I doing this after all? Why do I love to paint? What makes me passionate? I'll be darned if these aren't some of the most important aspects but I never gave myself time to even give it a thought. So I have applied a few of these things that I contemplated and now I am really having fun playing with paint!
One of my favorite quotes is from a book by Dan McCaw. 'There are no such things as failed paintings, only failure to paint.'
This quote could not ring with more truth. There are days when we work tirelessly on a painting only to finally call it done and only be halfway satisfied, and we then find it hard to find something good about that painting, but there is something good. You painted, and I guarantee you learned something, even if it was from mistakes. I find that most often I learn the most from the paintings that I feel I failed. I learned what not to do, and just hope that I do not repeat it.
Remember it takes probably 10 paintings to finally get a good one you want to sell, so keep on painting!
This quote could not ring with more truth. There are days when we work tirelessly on a painting only to finally call it done and only be halfway satisfied, and we then find it hard to find something good about that painting, but there is something good. You painted, and I guarantee you learned something, even if it was from mistakes. I find that most often I learn the most from the paintings that I feel I failed. I learned what not to do, and just hope that I do not repeat it.
Remember it takes probably 10 paintings to finally get a good one you want to sell, so keep on painting!
As an artist I know that the cold, hard truth to getting better at art is to do it. I feel it is important to also focus on the fact that an important part of this process is to not only to experiment with your own ideas but to also experiment by recreating previous works of art.
You may think 'Why on earth would I want to copy someone else's work?', but the truth is you should, and often. (Selling them is a big no-no) You learn so much from trying to recreate something someone else's done and you may even go about getting an effect they did in a different manner.
I can even guarantee there will be some collective sighing and possibly foot-stamping (who, me?). but the end result will astound you. You may not produce an exact replica of said persons painting but I bet will even inspire you to do it again!
My lovely painting is a re-creation of the great master, Richard Schmid. There is a lot, and I mean a lot wrong with this painting in comparing it to the original, but the lessons I learned from it are invaluable.
Over the past 2 years I have rediscovered my love and passion for creating art. I took a long hiatus after being unsatisfied with my work, but thankfully I felt a calling to try again and I have never been happier to have the brush re-marry my hand! I am taking workshop after workshop to continuously improve my work.
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