Day eight:
It’s going ok.
I’m happy, and the work is happening, but – I’m not excited enough yet.
Can’t quite put my finger on what I’m hoping for – except – I want to get back to the feeling of adventure and spontaneity that I’m used to with plein-air painting.
Which – given that I’m still at home, not ready to break quarantine – that’s a big ask.
So! Ok then! Maybe it’s not about traveling to exciting subjects – maybe it’s about making exciting paintings!
If you want to tune the sensitivity of the eye>hand>paint>brush loop – there’s nothing better than simplifying – and speeding up – at the same time.
You have to give yourself more chances to FEEL the paint. More opportunities to make a perfect brush stroke by accident, or instinct – and FEEL what it was like. REMEMBER the viscosity, the humidity, the exact angle and speed of the brush – everything you needed to pull together to make a bold confident piece happen under your fingertips.
These are painted about 10″ high. Sometimes I like to look at them reduced.
It’s a simulation of what they’d look like on the wall, performing as paintings – which are viewed at room-scale, as opposed to illustrations which we engage at arm’s length – or closer, now that we looking at most things on our phones.
I really like the look of this hey?
That’s a bang-up painting. It’s a little compact gem.
This is what I need to be doing – a few hundred more of these!
