no manual for creating a painting...

    an interesting thing to keep in mind while you are making a painting is that there is no formula for making/completing a painting.  every artist has their own rituals that get them started on a new painting, but once they are in the thick of it there is no manual for them to follow.  this can be an intimidating thought and at the same time, a liberating one.  all options are open.  no matter how long you have been painting and how many paintings you have made, the process you go through to complete each one is different in it’s own way.  ‘so how do i know what to do?’, you might ask.  the ways that i know i am on the right track are several at once;  first, that i continue to be excited about what is forming in front of me, second, that new ideas keep percolating up that contribute to subject matter or improve my technique and finally that the ‘it’s done’ feeling has not surfaced yet.  this last, the ‘it’s done‘ feeling is just as important to listen for as the ‘persistent good idea’ that got you started on the painting in the first place.  knowing when to stop makes, what you are doing, a painting.  if you pass this moment you will quickly loose interest in the painting and run out of ideas for improving it.  and what you are looking at will be only decorative, at best.    

   back to ‘no manual’.  this means that you must proceed with only one intent, to create an impact that holds your attention...  you want to look and want keep looking and your mind is stimulated to travel through unique pathways and thoughts as you look.  this way, you know that the same reaction will be stimulated in your viewer.  this is an indication of a good painting.  how you manage to get to this point is never easy and different each time.  you can choose to sketch out the image overall first, or work one small area to a finished state then go on...  you might draw from your imagination or draw from life and bring those images to your painting... you might stop work on an image for a long or short while, then return and continue till it’s done or you might want to stop again... but, when you know you want to stop for awhile, make sure you stop at a point where momentum is good.  where you feel good about what is happening on the surface.  then, when you come back, you will find it easy to jump back in and you look forward to the prospect (like a wonderful experience postponed).

going forward with a painting...

going ahead... or, back to making something. In this case I will be talking about painting, but most of these suggestions are transferable to any of the arts. Once I have an idea I can't shake, I start the painting by composing onto the surface with light pencil sketching. I used to start right away with washes of paint but now I find that way of starting harder to edit and distracting to good impulses at the beginning of visualizing a painting. These impulses can be fleeting and the easier it is to make them happen, the better. Erasing pencil and shifting sketch lines here and there is much simpler to do than moving or ignoring unwanted washes of paint. With pencil you can relax and try different compositions and weights of space and form, change your mind anytime, till you feel things work. When you are satisfied with your sketch, begin to paint. I start with washes at this point, bringing the image into focus with light washes to which I gradually increase the load of paint as needed and as I find what I want. In this way, I also don't loose important spontaneity that exits in the under drawing. Sometimes, pencil lines in that original drawing remain exposed in the final piece and are essential to the success of the finished painting.

Everyone has their own rituals when they prepare to paint, favorite colors you like to start with , selecting the best brushes for the situation at hand... but in the end, clear all advise and thoughts of preparation from your mind. This is the point where you trust your ability and previous experience, you get down to work, allow your thoughts to recede and paint.

considering a 30 hour work week...

one result would be that everyone would have more time for creative thinking.  another would be, anyone who wanted a job could have a job.  existing salaries would remain the same and companies that could not meet the pay role with extra employees, would be subsidized by the government.  now, everyone would be working.  this would be a manditory 30 hour work week.  no one could work a job more than 30 hours a week.  it's like job sharing but there is no cut in pay.  this would truely be a free market enterprise - because everyone would be employed.  where would the money come from?  the government just prints more, like it is a;ready doing to bail out banks and 'too big to fail' businesses.  and you suddenly have more tax payers and consumers, which is a dynamic that circulates money back into the local economies, immediatly.  i know this would really annoy the workaholics among us.  but it may help them to discover other interesting and equally engrossing things to do with their time.  what would happen if 'time off'' was valued as much as 'work time'?  not just considered time to recover from work, but an opportunity to think creativly or learn something new or develope a theory -  help make living better for humans and other forms of life on earth?  what if the worth of an individual wasn't based on how much money they have accumulated?

tools of the trade

back to thinking about art process, specifically, tools of the trade.  i have noticed, in myself and other artists, the tendency to develope an infatuation with tools and process.  this leads to loosing sight of your message or goal you had in mind when you got everything out to begin with.  this was more of a problem for me, when i was very young and unaware of what i wanted to do with my talent and what was distracting me.  just the physical enjoyment of stretching canvases, handling brushes, washing color onto surfaces, etc, was engrossing enough.  this wonderful respect for the tools of your trade is important in the begining but can't be aloud to become an end in itself.  it is not unusual to find mature artists who's work is flawed by their inability to evolve beyond their initial love of the tools of their chosen art.  so how do you distance yourself if you think this might be your problem?  there is one simple thing that comes to mind right away.  shop for materials and supplies way ahead of the time you need them.  prepare materials and surfaces ahead of time too.  let the rush of newness fade.  then, when an idea surfaces, you have settled these new tools and materials into the inventory of your mind and aloud them to blend with the rest of the stuff you normally use.  now you can choose what will serve necessity and your idea and not be distracted by novelty.  onward and upward!

victory for the Egyptians and for the internet!

This is extraordinary, what the Egyptian people have accomplished today.  With the help of the internet popular uprisings against dictatorship may be trasformed forever.  Can we even hope for and end of war?  The more real information people have and ease of communication with each other creates, in my opinion, the possibility of fairness of government and economy for the majority of people world wide.  This also allows more voices in on the converstion about future forms of democracy.  Democracy is a process and everywhere it is parcticed today can and needs to be improved upon.  The Egyptian people will now be able to start making contributions to this effort as they form their own government with real representation.  I am thrilled that I lived to see this happen and hope the best for them.   Will their artists now try to capture this historical moment?  I'm sure they will.  Wonderful.

  I hope that some of what i am going to write will be helpful to you in your creative process.  I am convinced that creativity is essential for sanity.  For me, making art is the closest I get to practicing a religion.  So anything I can do to encourage others to begin or continue a creative process makes sense to me.
  I find essential to the success of any art (no matter what form it takes) is idea.  The idea must be good.  What I mean by idea is your thought process, concept or philosophy that stimulated your desire to create something.  Idea is essential and subjective and comes from the core convictions of each individual.
  Once you have an idea you can't shake, you know you are on your way.  The form will follow. And around the core idea endless improvisation can occur.  Without idea an artist is just playing with the pleasures of their media ( paint, notes, words, clay etc).
  There is no end of ideas and you learn to listen for them.  I find writing them down when i think of them, then going back to read these notes days later, seeing if any of them still hold my interest and feels true, a process that works for me.
  That's all for now.  Looking forward to hearing from you.

www.CocoaBeachGallery.com - Artwork by Susan Camount

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