Comments on: Art farming http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/ Musings on the Nature of Art from An Artist in Nature Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:45:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Larry Jewett http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/#comment-85 Larry Jewett Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:09:57 +0000 http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/#comment-85 By the way, in reference to your statement about "Bison just standing around" (waiting to get shot, which is why there are so few left, of course), have you thought of painting a Bison on its hind legs? or doing a handstand? or doing a giant circle on the high bar? Oops, I believe Gary Larson (Far Side) already did that (with cows, at least). By the way, in reference to your statement about “Bison just standing around” (waiting to get shot, which is why there are so few left, of course), have you thought of painting a Bison on its hind legs? or doing a handstand? or doing a giant circle on the high bar?

Oops, I believe Gary Larson (Far Side) already did that (with cows, at least).

]]> By: Larry Jewett http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/#comment-84 Larry Jewett Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:02:21 +0000 http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/#comment-84 The "floating horse head" image is funny, though I must admit I have never painted a horse (I used to draw a lot when I was a kid and still have some horse drawings i did, which are actually not that bad, surprisingly enough), so I probably can not fully appreciate the reference -- though I have seen a lot of "floating horse heads" in paintings, now that you mention it. perhaps there is some "deep psychology" going on here (undoubtedly Freudian) Though it is understandable if one is trying to make a living off art, I think some artists take that to the extreme and let the market dictate what they paint. (even the "great" artists like Picasso are not immune. In fact, they may be even more susceptible in the later years (Julie). As with pretty much any endeavor, "letting other people decide" what you do is basically the death knell for creativity and spontaneity. Me, I never let anyone decide what to do or how to do it -- not even the people who know better, which is why so much of what i do is garbage. :) The “floating horse head” image is funny, though I must admit I have never painted a horse (I used to draw a lot when I was a kid and still have some horse drawings i did, which are actually not that bad, surprisingly enough), so I probably can not fully appreciate the reference — though I have seen a lot of “floating horse heads” in paintings, now that you mention it. perhaps there is some “deep psychology” going on here (undoubtedly Freudian)

Though it is understandable if one is trying to make a living off art, I think some artists take that to the extreme and let the market dictate what they paint. (even the “great” artists like Picasso are not immune. In fact, they may be even more susceptible in the later years (Julie).

As with pretty much any endeavor, “letting other people decide” what you do is basically the death knell for creativity and spontaneity.

Me, I never let anyone decide what to do or how to do it — not even the people who know better, which is why so much of what i do is garbage. :)

]]> By: Julie Chapman http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/#comment-79 Julie Chapman Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:16:27 +0000 http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/#comment-79 Kathy - oh lordy, your "floating horse heads" made me laugh - I'd forgotten all about those horrid things. I've sometimes been under the same delusions about doing a tired subject in a splendiferous way, but never carried through on any of it (or at least I hope not). My licensing agent, for instance, has said that wolves are (or at least were) quite popular, and he'd love to see me try a wolf image. The problem is that wolves have been so overdone that I'm super duper cautious about even trying a painting - the idea had better be darn good and different if I'm to get excited about it. Kathy - oh lordy, your “floating horse heads” made me laugh - I’d forgotten all about those horrid things. I’ve sometimes been under the same delusions about doing a tired subject in a splendiferous way, but never carried through on any of it (or at least I hope not).

My licensing agent, for instance, has said that wolves are (or at least were) quite popular, and he’d love to see me try a wolf image. The problem is that wolves have been so overdone that I’m super duper cautious about even trying a painting - the idea had better be darn good and different if I’m to get excited about it.

]]> By: Kathy Partridge http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/#comment-78 Kathy Partridge Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:30:38 +0000 http://julietchapman.com/blog/2008/04/06/art-farming/#comment-78 Great blog Julie! I find that "art farming" sort of afflicts whole genres as well. Not only does the artist risk boredom painting three or ten standing/grazing/sleeping bison but the whole genre of wildlife art (in this instance) risks it too - after awhile all those standing bison paintings (regardless of who did them) tend to all look pretty similar. Ditto figurative, still life, etc. I also think that some show committees or organizations encourage "farming" by selecting what often appears to be whole room-fuls of the "approved style" - witness the current fad for anything that looks "plein-air". In equine art, the "farming" very often takes the form of what I call "floating horse heads". Like most, if not all, artists who started out painting horses I went through my floating horse head stage. I now avoid them like the plague...seen one, seen 'em all. I do recall believing that if I could just do that one spectacularly fantabulous horse head, it would be the most amazing thing anyone ever saw and I would have arrived. Ah, the delusions of youth. :-) Great blog Julie!

I find that “art farming” sort of afflicts whole genres as well. Not only does the artist risk boredom painting three or ten standing/grazing/sleeping bison but the whole genre of wildlife art (in this instance) risks it too - after awhile all those standing bison paintings (regardless of who did them) tend to all look pretty similar.

Ditto figurative, still life, etc. I also think that some show committees or organizations encourage “farming” by selecting what often appears to be whole room-fuls of the “approved style” - witness the current fad for anything that looks “plein-air”.

In equine art, the “farming” very often takes the form of what I call “floating horse heads”. Like most, if not all, artists who started out painting horses I went through my floating horse head stage. I now avoid them like the plague…seen one, seen ‘em all. I do recall believing that if I could just do that one spectacularly fantabulous horse head, it would be the most amazing thing anyone ever saw and I would have arrived.

Ah, the delusions of youth. :-)

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