The Will to Win Means Nothing Without the Will to Prepare
– Juma Ikangaa, Marathon runner, Tanzania
I would like to begin by thanking the Muddy Colors for the opportunity to contribute to this forum. My only real qualification to be a contributor is that I believe ultimately, we share a mutual objective: to develop and fulfill whatever potential we have as creative individuals.
Learning to be an artist is an unending process, because it is a process of individual discovery and development. We can go to a school or teach ourselves, we can study the works of masters who had tools no better than ours. We can learn to draw what we see, we can learn how to use values and line, how to use color and composition, how to create narrative and mood. One of the most important things is often overlooked- knowing when to stop.
Making a picture or a sculpture is a process that allows the artist to show something of themselves- but if you over work something, you run the risk of rendering out the humanity of a piece. Learning when to stop is a process of understanding one’s own taste…and developing an objectivity about the work.
I made many paintings using a timer set for 20 minutes, because I wanted to see what would happen if I eliminated the variable of time. You can do a surprising amount in 20 minutes of total concentration.
If you try this I think you may be surprised by what happens. In my case it took a while- about 200 of these daily paintings before something began to emerge. But I think what I saw emerging was a form of creative honesty that I had previously been unable to tap into. Sometimes we call that a “style”. It might work for you too.
Bob, I’m discovering much of what you describe here. I’ve always been so careful, blah, blah. Some weeks ago, being retired and after more than 20 years of struggle, I decided to give up the struggle part, and try my hand at turning out a little painting in two to three hours. I had some uglys for awhile, but over time I can see something of a “new product.” I’m going to do a lot more because I like what is happening. Thanks. Your post was right on time for me.
Love these. Glad to see you on Muddy colors. When you do these little studies how much of the process do you change up? Ie Oils one day watercolor the next, do try out different surfaces? Or is it more keeping the variables as simple as possible and just focusing on getting something down? THanks
Thank you Matt. I work in oil most of the time, but I do occasionally work in other media, including pastels, acrylic and watercolor. What I do change quite often is the surface. The pieces in this article (all done last week) are on Dibond which is an aluminum signpainter surface that I prime with gesso. I also work on bond paper, arches oil paper, bristol board, matt board, clay board, typing paper, brown wrapping paper, stretched linen canvas and linen mounted on gator board, as well as on gator board directly. I just try different things and if it works I might incorporate it into my illustration work. For my landscapes i.e. work that might be sold in a gallery, its almost always oil on linen. Surfaces might be a good topic for a future article. Thanks for your comment!
Great post Robert and a nice reminder about what can be achieved through dedicated and focused effort. It might be interesting to also hear more about how your time as Robert Crockett changed or influenced some of your longer works.
Best Wishes
Really wonderful!
Quality content you are writing… Trusting the process is what matters, and you are a really creative artist!