Sometimes The Journey Is Better Than The Destination

  I finished the painting I've been telling you about. Adding some geometry to my style. Muddying the waters a bit more. Making it more difficult for people to pigeon hole my art. Mostly just to see if I could pull it off. Sometimes I set some limits on my tools to make things interesting. I once wanted to see if I could make flesh tones with just one yellow, one red, and one blue. I did three or four paintings that way. Three of them have slipped into the recesses of my mind. I have no idea what they were. One did make the cut though:

     It's called "Karen" and it's one of my favorites. It currently hangs over the fireplace of one of my biggest collectors.  And it looks great. I can usually pull something good out of these exercises. Sometimes I pull something great.
   So, back to the story. I've been working this painting for probably two weeks, maybe even a bit more. Paintings faces. Adding shapes. Working shadows in. A touch of color here, a bit more there. Lines. Shading. Letting it talk to me, telling me where to go next and what to do. Finally, it talked no more. I couldn't see anywhere else to go. I decided it must be done. I wasn't sure if I liked it. I waited three days before I would even show my wife. She really likes it. She told me stories about every face in the painting. A bit about their lives. It was really cool. For me it was the best part of the experience. I've been looking at it for a bit now. It's growing on me. It did give me an idea for my next step in my artistic progression. I'll keep it to myself for now, but I'm kinda stoked about it. Anyhow, here's the painting:

"Everyone Has A Prison"

A Trip Down Memory Lane

   I've had more studio time recently. I've got most of the rearranging done and the clutter sorted. I've been painting a lot, drawing a lot, feeling much better about my plan to be an artist first, a waiter second. I've picked up a new commission, made significant progress on my geometry-plus-my-style experiment (still no pictures, but trust me, it's looking good), and picked up a gig doing character design and backgrounds for an animation project. I'm getting my business plans simplified and my marketing plan solidified. What I haven't done is photograph new paintings. Sorry. I'll get to them. Here's some classics from the vault:

  

  This one is titled "First Painting". It seems like I had a better name for this at one time, but I have no idea what it was. It is the first painting I did in this style. I had no idea how it would work out when I started it. This is also the first painting I sold in this style.

  This is "Brainstorm". It was one of the first times I got really abstract with the black and white style, around 2000 I'd say. I thought then (and still do) that it was one of the best I've ever done. Yet it remains unsold. It does class up my house a lot though.

Rollercoaster...of Art

   It's been a pretty good week. I took an extra day off on Sunday; spent time with my family, did my chores, relaxed, hung out, all the things I never seem to have enough time for. (I'm not sure I punctuated that sentence correctly, but it is what it is. I'm an artist, not a writer). It made me feel like the art part of my week was longer. As I wrote that it occurred to me that it was probably because it was longer. What I meant was that Monday seemed like Tuesday, Tuesday seemed like Wednesday, you get the point. As those feelings crept in on me I would think 'Nope, I'm a day ahead, I have more time' and I would smile to myself.
  I've been working on the add-geometry-to-my-already-unusual-style project. I guess it's coming along. I really have no idea at this point. It is leading me somewhere I didn't expect. I suppose I won't know until it's either finished or I give up. I can prove it can be done by doing it, I can never prove it can't be done. I suppose it's art, geometry, and philosophy all in one. It'd probably make my head hurt if I thought about it. I hope to have a picture for you soon. In the mean time:

"Who Knows Why We Struggle"