WHY THE STRUGGLE IS WORTH IT

                                                                                                                     
            

I read a lot of articles written by artists – I think most serious artists do.  We want to know what other like-minded people are thinking.  We want to learn from their experience and inspirations.  Often I find that somewhere in their articles, especially if they are addressed to students,  there will be a line about recognizing when you’ve spent enough time on a painting and admitting that it’s just not working.  I’m not convinced that that time should ever come.

            One of the ways that I work toward being a better artist is to set goals for the paintings I do that are just beyond my reach  -- something that I’ve never tried before, or that I’ve had little experience with doing.  Needless to say, this leads to frustration, but it also leads to learning and eventually, if I persevere – to accomplishment.

            My current challenge has been working on gesture in my painted figures.  This refers to complicated poses, either still or in action.  Which leg holds the weight of a still body;  how are the feet placed when the body leaps through space.  In order to make these figures read correctly I have spent hours looking at the sketches of the artists whose figural work I most admire.  More hours copying their drawings and still more drawing my own.  Painting is different than drawing so yet more hours have to be spent painting and repainting each figure until not only the proportions are correct, but the gesture as well.  How many times have I walked away swearing “I’m done with that mess” only to return the next day to give it one more try as my fresh eyes tell me what it needs. 

            One of those days, I finally get it “right” – not perfect, but acceptable.  Signing that work is the best feeling of a very long process but boy is it a great feeling.  The struggle is worth it.

WRAPPING UP THE YEAR

        As 2017 draws to a close, I'm taking the time to clean and re-organize my studio and my thinking  before  beginning projects for several 2018 shows. 
        Cleaning the studio is always a treasure hunt as items found or  purchased  early in the year are stored away and then forgotten, but  reappear and stimulate new ideas.  These ideas often require experimentation  (translation fun time) to see what works and what doesn't.

 These experiments help to generate goals for the coming year, something that    really helps me to stay focused.  Toward the end of the year I tend to run out of steam and

lose that focus, wasting precious time trying to come up with a new series to work on. 
          I thought perhaps I would share this process and see if anyone else goes through something similar or if you rely on your Muse to show up when you need her.
        Before writing down my goals,  I like to brainstorm -- sit with a piece of paper and a pen and just write down random words and thoughts about what worked and what didn't during this past year.  Also, anything that has caught my attention but that I didn't explore.
         Next I write down a list of potential goals, not worrying about how many or if they are reasonable.  Just getting them down on paper.  I think about the shows I want to enter and if they have any special requirements, then I pare down the list to four or five general challenging but reachable goals.  These will be reviewed at intervals during the year to see if they still make sense.
       Once I have some general goals, I write goals for the first six months of the year that are related to the general goals, but  more specific and to which I attach a time frame.  Without a deadline, they would probably go undone since I tend to work best under a little (sometimes a lot of) pressure.  Once the goals are in place, I take up the ones for each month where I can see them each day when I enter my studio.  I don't have to be rigid about adhering to them but they sure help to keep me on track when I want to just goof off.

Things to come:
One of my main goals for next year is to Produce More Meaningful Work in Series rather than one offs.
           One of my goals for January is to enter the 30 Paintings in 30 Days paint off that I did last September.  I hope you'll follow this challenge -- watch for a hint of what I'll be working on in my next blog post.

About these images:  in experimenting with some new collage ideas one of the processes I use for an abstract is to turn it in all directions to decide which one works best.  That's sort of the same process I use when setting goals.

THE CHALLENGE IS OVER, NOW WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED

Here are my two favorite paintings:

 What makes this one of my favorites are the strong composition and values, and the abstract treatment of the shapes.  Were I to paint this again in a larger version, I would probably add one "alien" color in a cool hue for just a little contrasting pop.


SEE ALL 30 PAINTINGS TOGETHER  AT:  HARDAGEART.COM

 My final painting did have a contrast of warms and cools (yes, this black is a cool black) and I think it helped to enhance all of the warms.  Again, this painting had strong composition and values.  Intentionally placing the focal point right in the middle meant I had to work hard to move the eye around the rest of the painting. 




Thirty paintings of the same subject is the longest series I've ever created.  Doing this series in only thirty days has taught me a lot.

• Focus is more critical with a daily deadline
• It is necessary to really stretch and get outside the comfort zone when there are so many of the same subject
• It's okay to create some works that aren't very successful -- they show areas of weakness but they have areas of strength
• It's an opportunity to accept ideas from others but interpret them in my own way (Posted Palettes)
• Working with the same subject creates an intimacy with it that doesn't happen with a single painting or a short series
• It strengthens design and compositional skills
• It creates the need for quick self-critique and immediate improvement of  each work -- no time to put the painting aside and come back later
• It requires organization because it's not just painting the works, it's posting them on the challenge website and on the blog and Facebook too
• MOST IMPORTANTLY -- it creates a wonderful opportunity to engage with frequent viewers and new viewers and with artists around the world.
• The next challenge is in January 2018 and I'll be back!

 Here are the two paintings I consider my weakest with a brief critique of each:

 This painting is crowded and it's not clear where the shadows are and where the real branches are.  I used a patterned paper that I wanted to show through in the final work which took away my freedom to paint opaquely behind the blooms.  The composition could have been stronger if I had made the small  branch on the bottom left come in from a different place and not crowd the main bloom.  I do love this color scheme though.

This is a beautiful color scheme that takes the usual white magnolia to a different place.  The biggest problem with this painting in my mind is that the main blossom is too 
centered  and needs to be a little larger.  There is too much vague background.  Also
The blossom needs more distinct shadows to create more dimension.  This one could
definitely use more work. 




A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE SUPPORTED ME DURING THIS CHALLENGE. 
I HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED FOLLOWING THIS SERIES AS MUCH AS I HAVE ENJOYED  PRODUCING IT.  PLEASE CONTINUE TO FOLLOW MY BLOG AND VISIT MY WEBSITE:  HARDAGEART.COM.  LOTS OF NEW ARTWORK TO COME.