KEEPING FRUSTRATION AT BAY

   I love the seriousness of entering tough national competitions and real striving to get better all the time, but I also notice too much of anything tears down desire, joy to live and creativity. You need leisure to enjoy life, have energy , be at your best and be creative. I just watched three different workshop classes and the hardest thing to get them to do was to break from their paintings, yet when they did the always saw better and made better decisions.
   What great artists and students I always seem lucky to have, and when I notice a dip in attitude, we have a 1.5 hour session where we just go for it. I call it "painting for the trash can" , cause the result is unpredictable yet you  loosen up feel joy and feel freer.
  I read somewhere "An emotional response is what will give a piece of art a unique quality." It never ceases to amaze me how different one paints after a painting trip to a new area or a workshop. Being technically good is needed, adding the emotion, that moved you to paint in the first place makes them sing. I love energy and texture in paintings. Some brush, some palette knife , a combo of both, a freedom to use all the tools. Most artists also seem to love a fresh , energetic painting, that just seemed as if it just flowed off the brush.
 Maybe more will be in our future, till than I try to appreciate the love of paints and their application, although it doesn't always work. Here are a couple of fun pieces I enjoyed. I would always change a few things, but it may kill the energy.
   My many thanks to all my workshop attendees.

Plein Air to Finished Piece

This is the finished piece, I think it is better than the below piece, I primarily made the foreground rocks simpler and stronger, I think this really helped. Shifted the rock values between the front and mountains to create more depth. Eliminated some of the rock holes between the trees, shifted the upper mountains and did I think better work in the clouds. To me seeing the progression explains the thought process, regardless of the rightness of the decision.

This was my plein air piece, not my best effort and I found it in my pile of not so goods, but on second look the concept and arrangement of shapes looked interesting so my jumping off point.

We will start looking at some simpler scenes in other blogs that don't have such grandeur, hope this is of some benefit to someone, my best , Bill

Small to Larger Paintings

                    40 by 30

                    16 by 12

 

   I just finished the 40 by 30 and am too close to it, and it may need some shifts. But I am curious if any of you have a preference and why?  Please feel free to email if you like at bdstudios@mac.com. This is the situation where the study was gone , something not advisable. It always seems easier with the study to match to the colors and values. I believe the shape, separation, and atmospheric recession are better in the larger one. The color of the real paintings is not as different as in these photos. It seems you resolve 80% of issues in the smaller, yet logically we should than be able to improve in the larger. Better thought out shapes, more transitions, and resolution of some of the remaining 20% hopefully but we all know we crash and burn sometimes, cest la vie.

   Art is challenging yet the process should also give pleasure and meaning. Thanks to all no matter where you are in your process. I heard a great quote unfortunately I can't quote the source, sorry. An advanced artist said "I thought it would get easier", and the reply was "it did , you just raised your expectations." 

   Maybe we should realize we must be joyful where we are, as we will never arrive fully, we are always in growth. 

   Will be comparing 2 paintings of the same scene and what maybe helped improve one over the other in the next few posts . Thank You

BEST MOTIVATING ART QUESTIONS FOR 2012

  

               Some of the Kelleys

     FIRST, my thanks and gratefulness for the beauty of art, and all artists that create for the benefit of us all, past teachers and those who have advanced or helped, great friends, wonderful students, and warm family. 

     My greatest teachers always helped me kindle my joy fire for what makes me feel alive and living in awe. Too much discipline is rigidity and stifles creation.

     The greatest motivating questions for all artists: WHAT DO YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, LOVE TO PAINT AND HOW WOULD YOU REALLY LOVE FOR YOUR PAINTINGS TO LOOK?

     Play with these questions throughout the year and get a little better every week. All real change occurs in small increments most of the time. Find your joy in life and art and enjoy your advances only by measuring against yourself. Wishing all a joyful New Year.

Making A Painting Slightly Better

This is one of those paintings that flew off the brush, others struggle their way to the trash can. Although the subject had no fall colors on the left side , I added some small amounts to spread a similar temperature throughout the painting and a similar warm color. It may hurt the painting to overdo on the left the side.
May you all have wonderful holidays and enjoy them. My tendency is to work too hard, don't grind if you can avoid it, I can turn anything into work like most of us, just get a little better each day and take a day off to be part of normal life. You need to be much more than  an artist.

Enhancing A Field Study 2 Simplification

  I don't know about you but I am always making things too complicated, especially when outside looking at all the detail or just looking too much at the subject matter and not organizing and simplifying,isn't it funny. Previously in a post I altered this one to create more depth, etc., but I lost some atmosphere in the middle mountain.
  In these revisions I hopefully simplified the mountain and the rock shapes and got a lil better tree shapes, and hopefully better related the mid mountain. I am sure I would change some things again, when I paint it larger. Will do some more of these because I loved it when other artists critique their own work, it helps me to learn .

On Giving to Charities

CHAllENGED CHILD ANNUAL CHARITY EVENT

HOSTED BY RED AND BOB BUISSON,                   jurying in association with 

THE HIGH MUSEUM OF ART

 As an artist, of most of us it is difficult to earn money, and most charities are great causes, so it seems to be best not to cheapen the process and ourselves. Perhaps we should be honest with ourselves and try develop a pure intent first.
 It is easy to be resentful when donating originals as we are asked often and they are difficult to produce for most of us, I noticed my feelings of resentment in myself recently. What if we overcome our torn feelings by picking the charity or charities we fully believe in and donate a good original to it with a pure intent to help and for no other reason or benefit, not expecting anything in return. You can't donate to all charity requests and the process is cheapened by donating less than your good work. If you donated giclees or prints to the other charities, or some other smaller donation than an original or respectfully declined we may maintain our true intent.
 In listening to several nuns wisdom, they make it clear you can't do everything requested of you, and as an artist your number one mission in life is to create for the world. It isn't easy and requires dedication at a very high level. The arts are a necessity and what you do is probably enriching the world. In the days of the depression , they kept some of the playhouses open in New York for free or minimal prices to provide for the spirits of people in such trying times. Another great wisdom perhaps.
 Maybe you have other ways of dealing with these feelings.