Any of you ever find yourself in a place where you have loads of painting ideas, but the quantity of them almost paralyzes you? I have tons of good material, lots of sketches for paintings, yet I’m getting into this self-critical mode in which nothing is quite right, or perhaps I worry that it won’t turn out as well as the idea. (NO painting ever quite measures up to the idea, BTW - but some transcend it, which is always a joyful occasion).
And speaking of ideas…I’m in a pensive mood at the moment (no doubt due to the above) and, while I have topics to blog about, none of ‘em is floatin’ my boat right now.
SO - this is your chance, dear readers, to tell me what you’d like to see me post about. It’s wide open - go for it.
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September 5th, 2008 at 6:53 am
I’d love to hear your personal take on approaching galleries.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Well, since McCain’s choice for VP has been pretty well covered …
how about this for a topic:
Wildlife looking for the good life
All this time, I thought you had to go to a game farm or zoo to get good closeups of bobcats.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Self-criticism: The blessing and curse of the artist.
I was talking with a gallery owner about this just a couple of weeks ago. She said she really loves working with “Self-editing” artists, because she knows she’ll only get their best work. With others, she sometimes feels like they paint just to replace something that sold.
There is a difference, though, between healthy self-crit and over-analysis. I’m sure we’ve all had people just fall in love with a piece that we feel is less than we are capable of. Once I destroyed a piece right before someone asked to buy it. I repainted it, but couldnt recapture what she was after. My current course is to put the thing away for 30 days, then pull it out and make a decision.
As far as what I’d like to see here, how about some pics and dialogue about what you’ve been up to. Shots from a rodeo or pics from your studio window when it snows. What you were thinking about as you trudged up that mountain path, etc.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Tania, Don - good stuff! I’m capturing it and will use your suggestions.
Larry - great link! foreclosure CAN be good for something…
Don - I have had people fall in love with and buy something that I was less than thrilled with…but they saw something there that I didn’t. Your statement about “over analysis” is right on. I think your method of putting something away for a while is useful; I’ve started doing that in the last year myself. With some pieces - wish there were more! - I know right away that I love ‘em and am happy with ‘em. Many others are in a gray zone: they don’t match what was in my head…but if I let them sit a while, I may find myself liking them more on their own merits. Or I may chuck them entirely.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I would also like your take on approaching galleries.
September 8th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Just chiming in from Mongolia, where one can buy original art for a song. Try original oils that are competently painted, say 18″x24″, for $300 to $400. Haven’t really seen anything for over $1000. We are soooo lucky in the USA. Making a living isn’t easy, but seeing what the artists are up against here really puts things in perspective.
Blogs like this where we can support each other help so much.
Spent three days seeing reintroduced Przewalski’s Horses at Hustai National Park and off tomorrow to a ger camp owned by a horse training family. Hoping for great reference.
Cheers all!
September 9th, 2008 at 7:29 am
I would love to kow more about your sketches and what you do to prepare for a painting, ie thumbnails, value sketches, color studies? Your paintings seem so fresh and direct, I am curious about how much you do beforehand.