Have you tried Scrapbooking some of your photos from your workshops and travels? I find this is a great way to feed my creative soul, get “juiced” again about a particular place or activity that I enjoyed and eventually want to apply to painting. Plus, I can get a lot quicker results from this activity than I do when painting. It is a new addiction that I find does help feed my creative soul. Plus, I can enjoy this with my daughter, sister, sister-in-law, and niece….all whom say they aren’t artistic.

On the play aspect: an artist is a creative person, regardless of medium. I noodle with beads and making jewelry; woodboard cutouts that I paint; cut-paper things; drawing with silver ink on black paper…there’s a lot of creativity I love to do that’s not directly related to oil painting, but I think they all feed my creative soul. And they’re all play.

Sa-weet!!!

You might try different types of paper and pens/pencils. I find for quick sketches that I prefer whatever liquid gel pens Staples currently has. I’ve been working with the Wolff’s Carbons, but I prefer them and charcoal pencils for more finished drawings.

One of the things they told us in art school (Illustration) was to always save something for the finish. If I do a quick study and find later on that there is something about it that is driving me crazy, then I guess that means that there is something left for the finish.

I agree with you both that the enjoyment of the process comes across in the piece. John Stobart points to the difference between Constable’s field studies and his finished work. He also says that he tries not to expend too much energy on the field work, so that the creativity is still there for the studio. Maybe that’s part of my problem. I just pour myself into the field work and then rarely get the desired result in the studio.

Having said all that, I need to say that following this blog has put me into a mindset to draw more. I work in a beautiful area, surrounded by mountains, trees…..and geese…lots of geese. (Watch your step.) There are lots of opportunities when I could sit with a sketchbook and pencil and spend my lunch just drawing. Am I just lazy or what?

I’ve got a bighorn painting that’s on the plate for this morning and might get back to the bobcat this afternoon, certainly tomorrow. Got a local group show next month that I want both pieces for. Shawn Gould, Linda Parkinson, Paula Golightly and John Wesa and I. We did it last year and decided to keep going, so it’s called Wild Visions 2.

I took the bighorn about a 1/3 done in to my framer yesterday since it is a 20″x30″ with two 20″x8″ side panels, which will require custom work for the small connecting vertical pieces. How’s that for putting pressure on myself to turn out a good one? Don’t know that this will keep the “play” in the work, but it certainly has focused my attention :-).

I endeavor to always ignore that little voice that says “You should paint an “x” and to say to myself instead, “What do I want to paint today?” and then trust that at some point someone will want to buy it. Chasing the market is fatal to good, individual work.

I’m also having a blast seeing what I can do with the round brushes I mostly use these days. I’m trying to always think “drawing”, along with value, structure and all that other stuff, because I love to draw and want that to be a part of every painting.

Posted an in-progress of a bobcat who should look familiar to you. I’m having LOTS of fun trying to capture that morning light!