Anybody ever get into this mode?
This was the term we used at HP (back in my previous life as an engineer) for getting mired down by over-thinking something, to the point that you can no longer take action. Of course, given the cautious, analytical tendencies of many R&D engineers, there was always a natural tension with the gung-ho marketing types (e.g., me).
In any case, I’ve been getting stuck here lately. I came home from my winter workshop and whipped off two lovely little miniatures that I find enormously satisfying. Then I go to do something larger, and I’m paralyzed by trying to re-create the freshness and appeal of those little pieces; I agonized over subject matter and composition for several days, changed my mind about 50 times, made up my mind, got prepped for a painting, THEN changed my mind again. I finally DID another painting - but I’m not happy with it. The miniatures that I like so much had very little investment in prep or study sketches; they just popped into my head as ideas and I rolled with the inspiration.
So - WTF?? is up with this kinda thing?!
I’ve learned that if I DON’T take my time on compositions and study sketches for larger pieces, the results can really suck. And boy, am I good at beating myself up for wasting canvas, paint, and time on a painting that doesn’t work. But - where’s the right balance between prep and over-work?
Entries (RSS)
March 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Hey Julie,
I find keeping the color sketch small (like 5″x7″) helps to feel that you are not painting the same thing twice. Plus its super loose and only an indication of what will happen in the big piece. The composition doesn’t need to be labored either, just a linear sketch will work. Thats only a small investment in the prep work. The hard work is worth it in the early stages because then the final painting practically paints itself. As long as the final piece retains the animal character and spirit of the scene then all is good. But I will admit that its a challenge to retain the freshness on bigger paintings. I guess thats where all the hours of doing quick sketch and understanding rhythm and gesture comes in handy.
March 5th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I was taught a fairly involved process when I was studying illustration. Shoot reference. Then: many thumbnails for composition/value masses, work out drawing problems on a finished drawing, value study, color rough, finish. More or less how great illustrators like Norman Rockwell worked. But they always told us to “save something for the finish”. Otherwise we were just scaling up the color rough and repeating ourselves. Yawn.
I found that if I had quit when there were still things that bugged the heck out of me on the preliminary, I had plenty of juice left for the finish.
Sometimes the challenge is to get out of one’s own way.
On the other hand, maybe you’re just going through an artistic “growth spurt”. And it will all re-synthesize by April.
On the OTHER other hand, maybe you ARE over-thinking and you need to tell your mind to JUST SHUT UP. I recommend a decent Merlot, myself.
March 6th, 2009 at 9:55 am
I don’t get “stuck” too often cuz i don’t paint very often (works out well in that regard), but…
when you get stuck, I have found old Sam Adams can be a freind too , though admittedly, when it comes to “telling your mind to shut up” there is a limit to how much advice you should take from Sam (or Merl)…
PS Just speaking theoretically, of course. I have never, ever exceeded this limit.
March 6th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I’m more of a Zinfanatic myself - but a good Cab or Merlot is always worthwhile. My issue is that after I’ve painted something I really like (such as the 2 small things right after workshop), I’ll get caught up in agonizing over the NEXT piece because I want it to be just as wonderful. And that kind of pressure on myself generally seems to be counterproductive.
Has this ever happened to anyone else? Maybe I should just go with Larry’s method: drink a lot (not to excess, of course) and then don’t paint very often.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
“because I want it to be just as wonderful”. I see what you mean. But we can never truly control what happens on the canvas. All we can do is apply what we’ve learned and hope for the best.
Alternatively, maybe you should just decide that the next one’s going to be a stinker that no one will ever see. THEN drink the zin and have at it.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
PS- I just became a Facebook friend of Howard Friedland, who won the big prize at the OPA show last year. He posted on his wall that a gallery manager that he knew was killed in the explosion in Bozeman.
March 8th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I haven’t yet heard it confirmed that anyone died in that explosion - but the MT newspapers say “a woman is missing” and her identity not yet confirmed. I’d heard the day of the explosion that it was the manager of the Montana Trails Gallery. This was the biggest explosion/accident of its type in Montana history.
March 8th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Yep, been there, done that! I’ll come home from a trip all jazzed up and usually a small piece just flows off the brush. But, like you, I want the next one to be as easy and as great and I think ok, this one…no, that one…hmmmm, maybe this one is better and I just get mired down. The first little piece after a trip seems to drain offf the buzz and then I’m back to paintings that I’ve been thinking about for quite a while. Some people think that takes the spontenaiety out of the painting but working in watercolor, I need that time to hash it out in my head or I get myself into trouble. And when I try to force a painting before it is ready, I REALLY get into trouble. Sounds like you’re trying to “make it happen” rather than just letting it happen when it is ready.
P.S. What explosion??!!?
March 10th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Great subject!
I think most artists get caught in the analytical quagmire sometimes. Back in my Hallmark illustration days we had the added pressure of knowing that virtually everything we designed and painted was going to be published. The cost for Hallmark to publish one illustration was many, many thousands of dollars. It was a bit like painting in a pressure cooker! But after many years of painting with the burner under you turned up on high, you actually get used to it!
For me, I have found a way to keep my mind in the right place. I think it is important to remember why you paint in the first place. If you paint for a reason (to express your love for something, or to give yourself a voice or point of view on an issue) than you will be more able to keep the “passion” alive in your work. I believe that passion is the difference between a good work and a great one.
For me personally, my work turns out best when it is well planned with sketches and a color feel pre-established. I tend to get lazy sometimes, maybe because I’ve been a painting machine for so long. When I’m lazy, my layouts are uninteresting and my ideas are weak. It is when I most push myself that my best works come. So I guess for each of us we motivate by different things. It is important to recognize those things and learn how to tap into them
March 10th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Joni - great advice! without a doubt, we have to remember the passion and the love! I suspect what happens when I get caught up in ‘analysis paralysis’ is that my brain is running roughshod over my heart (or gut, or both…ewww, kind of an icky analogy, all those internal body parts lying around in various states of destruction).
Sandra - I hadn’t thought about the ‘trip buzz’ before…good note.
As for the explosion: a block of downtown Bozeman blew up last Friday, very unexpectedly - an old section, where the gas pipes had been laid down 100 years ago or something like that, no emergency shutoffs, etc (it appears to have been a natural gas blowup). Four businesses were completely destroyed, including Montana Trails Gallery; the director, Tara, is missing and is assumed killed in the blast (she was in the gallery at the time). Several Charlie Russell paintings were vaporized, along with many works by other current artists. It’s the biggest explosion in Montana history - very bizarre.
March 10th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Addendum: Joni, I’m going to have to noodle on the ‘lazy’ comment. Or perhaps it’s fear. Hmmm….
March 11th, 2009 at 7:45 am
I’m not a regular news viewer and have not heard about the blast in Bozeman. HOW VERY SAD. I hate the thought that someone who was just minding their business at work one day died in such an unexpected disaster. Goes to show us all…live each day like it is your last…
On the “lazy” thing. Indeed it is about being lazy for me. My Hallmark illustration friends and I used to talk about that. After several pieces where we pushed ourselves very hard, we would take a “break” and do something that was within our comfort zone…hense the word “lazy”. That lazy piece or two would rejuvinate us (like taking a creative “vacation”) so we were better able to take the leap of faith on the next several “risky” pieces. When you are cranking out work, often between one and four full color illustrations per week, you have to find coping mechanisms to keep youself moving forward and producing. We didn’t have the luxury of the “do I WANT to paint today” thing.
Unfortunately, I have taken that habbit into my wildlife art as well. And sometimes I am a bit “lazy” when preparing for a booth show. I know that I’ve got to crank it out fast, and so I often stay in my comfort zone just so I know that I will succeed. I’ve made a commitment to myself this year to chuck that whole idea and push myself harder on every piece. That seems like a noble goal…we’ll have to see how it goes…
April 5th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I’m sure you’ve all learned by now that the director of Montana Trails Gallery, Tara Bowman, was killed in the blast in Bozeman. I came into the gallery about the same time she did, not long after I started painting, and she saw something in every stage of my art that she believed in and kept me through all my changes, some good, some bad. I always thought that I was her “special project”, but at her memorial at the C.M.Russell Show I learned that each of the artists in the gallery thought the same of themselves. She truly stood above the rest, and I don’t know how many galleries it will take to replace her in my career, but she was my greatest supporter, adviser and friend. When I heard her voice on the phone, I knew it was going to be a good day.
Just wanted everyone to know that she will be missed more than words can say. She was an extraordinary young woman.
April 5th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Karen, what a lovely memorial.
November 8th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
I’m not sure where you are getting your info, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for wonderful information I was looking for this information for my mission.