These are questions that seem to come up for me as an artist, constantly. Artists do you have questions that come up for you regularly? What questions do you have? Would love to hear them.
Artists do you paint for yourself or paint for your audience?
If you paint something that sells, do you tend to repeat yourself and paint another version hoping it will sell again?
Do you bounce around painting a variety of styles or do you stick with one subject matter and pallet?
Do you take risks?
Do you experiment with different mediums?
Do you feel you are connected to your voice?
Is your artwork recognizable?
Do you have fun when you create?
When did you start acknowledging you were an artist?
*This is my 28th painting of my paint52 challenge. Painting measures 24″ X 48″, Oil on wrapped linen canvas. Price $2880.
I paint for myself, completely when doing normal paintings. When doing a commission, it is a combination of what they need in the image, my style and my decisions on the painting.
No, I’ve sold a lot in strong bold colours, and I’ve been nudged, hinted at and even told directly from a gallery to paint more like that, because they sell. After politely saying no for a couple weeks, I had to tell her quite strongly it wasn’t going to happen, as my palette is now more subtle, and pastel. I won’t change that for her.
I stick with my established style of paintings, though incorporate new things when necessary.
Risks? What is a ‘risk’ in a painting? I know how to use my materials & equipment. Do you mean doing different things? I take a ‘risk’ every time I use sandpaper on my paintings to break up the surface & every time I splatter, spread, flick oil paint. But that is how I like to work.
While learning about art, myself, my direction I experimented with different mediums. Now I use whatever is necessary to achieve the results I am after.
Connected to my voice? For years I felt totally disconnected & bewildered by it. Now I’m starting to understand how it developed and I’m actually learning about the real me from this artistic voice.
No I do not have fun while I create. I enjoy being alone, deep in thought while creating. But I wouldn’t call it fun.
I began teaching evening art classes for the local college, MIND and the Worker’s Education Association in the mid to late 90’s. I thought of myself as an artist then. But I began feeling and knowing I was an artist, when other artists began acknowledging my work, skills and experience. About 2009.
Erin, I love, love, love your comment. It made me laugh when you said you didn’t have fun when creating. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Yes our artistic voice can illuminate us and help us realize our authentic self. I wonder if it takes validation by others to help us believe we are artists. I felt once I started winning awards, that helped me honor my art and acknowledge my craft. Thanks so much for sharing.
My pleasure Janet 😀
All good questions to consider. I guess I paint for myself because I want my work to be recognizable as my work. I pick subjects that inspire me not necessarily others, but hopefully so. I frequently don’t have fun painting, usually in the middle. I’m excited at the beginning and usually love it as I come to seeing a piece finished in my mind. Then I set it aside, but where I can see it from a distance to see it with refreshed eyes. Risk, well for sometime, I’ve thought I should venture out into abstracts, but I return over and over to realism.
Recently I’ve discovered Pandora radio and play music that I know and love and sing along out loud like nobody can hear me. I have a lot of fun. In the past I always listened to music, but usually classical which I love.
Your beautiful art is recognizable! I write for myself, but do think about my readers. I hope they enjoy what I write, but if I wrote for them, it wouldn’t be authentic for me. I hope that made sense!
This is such a beautiful painting Janet!
You always have great questions!
Artists do you paint for yourself or paint for your audience? Both!
If you paint something that sells, do you tend to repeat yourself and paint another version hoping it will sell again? Not unless someone has already paid me. Otherwise, I paint what feels good.
Do you bounce around painting a variety of styles or do you stick with one subject matter and pallet? I stick with the same palette and I bounce between reaism and abstraction.
Do you take risks? Yep! I’m always pushing it!
Do you experiment with different mediums? Yes! Pastel, watercolor, acrylic.
Do you feel you are connected to your voice? Depends on the moment. Sometimes I’m tuned in better than others.
Is your artwork recognizable? Most certainly. I can’t help looking like me no matter what I paint.
Do you have fun when you create? Depends on moment. Painting is a fluid process and the tide ebbs and flows.
When did you start acknowledging you were an artist? In my 30’s…
I love to listen to music as well Mary when painting, I believe it brings a wonderful energy to the painting. I heard classical music can actually make your more creative and help with creative blocks. I would love to do more abstract too, but at the same time I believe I am combining both realizm and abstract shapes in my work. I think you do too. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
It does make sense Cheryl and you gave me a lightbulb moment with the comment. If I write I write for myself definitely and then why wouldn’t that be the same for painting, could it be paintings are more open for critiques and also matching the living room couch? Thank you Cheryl!
Wow, great answers Shannon, love hearing how you feel about them. It’s amazing how there are no right or wrong answers but just what makes sense to us as creators. Question do you have more fun making your abstracts or realism, love them both. Thanks for taking the time to answer them 🙂
Interesting questions…
I paint for myself unless it’s a commission, in which case I try to find something that interests me and the client. These are not my favorite paintings by a long shot.
I try not to repeat myself – a funny statement from someone who painted herself every day for three years and continues to do so an a pretty regular basis – but when I make something I like, sometimes I deliberately hide it from myself so I won’t be tempted to try to ‘do it again’.
Everything I make is a product of my brain, so I see it all as one style, the style of me. A good friend said once that while I have a distinct hand, I don’t have a particular style, and that may be true. In other words, he could recognize work as mine no matter the subject, media, palette – or style. I follow my own thread of interest and there are themes that repeat, disappear, and re-emerge in my work over decades. Again, I see it as connected. But if you looked at what I was doing in any given month, you might wonder how the portraits tied in with the semi-abstract plant paintings, or how vector drawings on my iPad related to thick brushy acrylic paintings. I have a fascination with all the different kinds of marks that can be made, so my own interest is specifically to pursue different ways of making art, both different media, and different ways of using the same media. And I constantly challenge myself to learn news ways of seeing by preventing myself from falling into my established habits. For instance, I draw with my non-dominant hand, with both hands at the same time, with my glasses off or eyes closed, with my feet, with an upside down source photo. Whatever it takes to allow myself to find something new and not stay stuck doing what I already know how to do.
I think that answered styles, risks and medium, except I take exception to the idea that anything I ever do in the studio is risky because the worst thing that can happen is I waste supplies or the client doesn’t like it. By comparison crossing the street is riskier. It’s true that sometimes I’m ‘afraid’ to ruin an unfinished piece that I’m invested in because I like what I have so far but there’s no other way to finish things, and I try to have the perspective that I learn a lot even if I ruin it. There’s always the next painting.
I feel very connected to my voice, and I’m almost always having fun in the studio. If I’m stuck on one piece, I try to work on other things until the right approach for the unfinished piece surfaces. I don’t always have fun with commissions *sigh*
I’ve been seriously involved in art-making since HS but I used to think it was really pretentious to call oneself an artist. I would have been happy calling myself a painter but I was stuck because in the years after college, I was mainly drawing, and ‘drawer’ sounds stupid and ‘draughtsman’ implied a sort of realism that wasn’t what I was doing. So eventually I gave in to artist, and then adjusted to it and ‘own’ it now.
Love your answers Julia. There is a lot of wisdom and knowledge in this thoughts. I love how everyone looks at their motivations in a unique way. Thank you for taking the time to share, very enlightening.