Evolution and DE-volution
Not every piece flows smoothly like ink out of an inkwell. Sometimes pieces sit in a studio, untouched for
months or years, until the artist knows what needs to come next.
Other times, taking a left instead of a right, leads to unwanted and undesirable territory.
In October of 2014, I chanced upon a lovely artist by the name of Elizabeth Schowachert. She has an instructional DVD out called "Organic Fusion". I purchased the DVD as I was interested in a couple of her techniques.
What happened is I began to imitate her too closely for my own comfort. And hers. When I saw what I produced, I contacted her so that we could have an honest and open dialogue about it. We both agreed that a certain number of the pieces I produced were too close to her style. Other people may not see the big deal, but since Elizabeth and I are both selling artists, that means we need to publicize our work. My integrity, as an artist, was on the line here, as was hers (NO artist likes their work copied and then sold), so we agreed they needed to change.
These are the three little scalawags that I set my cap to revising. Click on the 1st painting for a full frame view:
Not every piece flows smoothly like ink out of an inkwell. Sometimes pieces sit in a studio, untouched for
months or years, until the artist knows what needs to come next.
Other times, taking a left instead of a right, leads to unwanted and undesirable territory.
In October of 2014, I chanced upon a lovely artist by the name of Elizabeth Schowachert. She has an instructional DVD out called "Organic Fusion". I purchased the DVD as I was interested in a couple of her techniques.
What happened is I began to imitate her too closely for my own comfort. And hers. When I saw what I produced, I contacted her so that we could have an honest and open dialogue about it. We both agreed that a certain number of the pieces I produced were too close to her style. Other people may not see the big deal, but since Elizabeth and I are both selling artists, that means we need to publicize our work. My integrity, as an artist, was on the line here, as was hers (NO artist likes their work copied and then sold), so we agreed they needed to change.
These are the three little scalawags that I set my cap to revising. Click on the 1st painting for a full frame view:
If you know anything about Elizabeth's "Organic Fusion" work, you will see why they needed changing.
The first thing I did was to begin scraping. I was hesitant to remove it all right away, so I began in phases. Here is an example of one of them. It is the middle painting, above.
The first thing I did was to begin scraping. I was hesitant to remove it all right away, so I began in phases. Here is an example of one of them. It is the middle painting, above.
"Hmm," I thought, as I stared at it. "This is not quite doing it for me. It needs something more."
Here's the 2nd iteration, below. I added some vertical connecting lines and colored it a transparent white, first, followed by a transparent yellow. Keep in mind, I was working on shapes, scraping and coloring the other two paintings at the same time I was working on this one:
Here's the 2nd iteration, below. I added some vertical connecting lines and colored it a transparent white, first, followed by a transparent yellow. Keep in mind, I was working on shapes, scraping and coloring the other two paintings at the same time I was working on this one:
Nope, still looks too much like Elizabeth's, I said to myself. What next? Wait, I guess.
Most artists have little tricks that bail them out of tight spots. One of mine is to cover everything in white. Here it is:
Most artists have little tricks that bail them out of tight spots. One of mine is to cover everything in white. Here it is:
You can see, in the lower right corner where I've begun to scrape.... oooh, I kind of like it! Below, you can see one of the other paintings where I've added a swirl pattern and then covered the whole thing in white and begun the job of scraping. I like that one, too!
Sigh.....in looking at the 3 paintings, below, it STILL doesn't look right. Even after I've scraped and scraped and painted and scraped some more.
So.......what now?????
If you look closely at the right hand painting, below, you can see where I've begun what became the last step in all of this -- removing yet more white paint in a series of circles.
Finally, I think I've got it! I finished the circles on the painting on the right. The middle piece stayed focused on the rectangular shapes and the left painting received the same circle treatment. Now I've got a message and with my current series focusing on "Transformation", they now convey meaning to me.
I guess the paintings were always there. They were just waiting for me to catch up.
I guess the paintings were always there. They were just waiting for me to catch up.
My message to you is this: If you're stuck....never give up. Never quit. Never walk away. Keep the back of your mind working on it and eventually a solution will appear. It has to! The Universe works that way!
Best of luck, friend.