11/11/2011 Day 30 Painting #30

Well, it's done. There have been some hits and some misses...but I finished it.

I tried a lot of different ideas. Some failed, others turned out better than expected. I still don't know if I discovered my identity as an artist.  This has been a journey with many detours. I still don't think I reached my destination or my full potential.

I'd like to pursue more abstract painting and I'd like to learn how to do realistic portraits. If you have been keeping score, I explored some abstracts in the past thirty days, but no realistic portraits. I have a lot to learn.

During this process, I realized I was putting out a lot of half baked or half finished projects. I need more time to develop my talent. I also got a lot of crap out of my system.


I'd like to try this again in the future. Maybe in six months. Hopefully, I will be doing more professional abstracts and get over my fear of attempting portraits.


Now, I got a long queue on my Kindle of books to read.


1 Last One

10/18/2011 Couple more thoughts....

A blank canvas is endless possibilities only inhibited by ones imagination and shortcomings. It’s is hard to properly commit ideas onto a blank canvas. It will highlight limitations of imagination and technique. It can be intimidating because you are exposing yourself, opening yourself up to criticism. But, also, rewarding for the praise you receive. Once you put it out there and is seen there is no taking back that person’s impression, so you better have it right.
Doing the 30 in 30 project is forcing me to try something new every day. Maybe the time I have allotted myself only results in quantity over quality. However, it is forcing me to make mistakes and take chances. For every bad or incomplete idea, there are several lessons learned. I have received several positive responses from my Day One painting. I referred to it as a disaster because it wasn’t what I thought it should be and never saw it for what it actually turned out to be. I didn’t appreciate the happy accident. That is one painting I am going to revisit and ‘fix’ it as bonus painting in the 30 for 30.
I am a big fan of primitive and folk art. I love its simplicity. Things like the Day Three voodoo doll are what I am attracted to. Even though it was not well executed because I was experimenting with something that didn’t work as well as expected, I do plan to do more primitive work like that. Sugar skulls anyone?
Anyway, when in doubt, put a bird on it.