The process
9/8/2014 8:00:38 PM
September! Summer is about over, and cooler weather is ahead. How quickly the year has passed... A lot has happened, but that is now history, and 2014 is not yet over. It's easy to let time get away from us, especially if we have no plan. In 2012, I committed to paint at least 10 paintings, and wound up with over 50 completed by the end of the year. Last year, I committed to at least 50 paintings, and honestly, I was having so much fun, I don't know officially how many I painted. But I do know it was more than 50.
For 2014, my commitment changed. I committed to spending at least one hour every day doing something art related. From week to week, I made smaller commitments along the way- it could be to learn a specific technique, or how to mix a certain color, or even to get this newsletter out. But each small commitment has moved me a little further ahead, and with something accomplished.
I don't know how many paintings I've done this year. Alot. Sometimes it's 4 or 5 a week. Some are just practice, some are sketches to get a perspective, or to try to get the right composition. And they're not all winners. But the process has helped me become a better painter. It has encouraged me to focus, to practice, to think. And it's a simple process. All it has required is one hour a day to learn something, to try something new, to step out and do something I've never done. The process will stretch a person, and when passion is added, well... sometimes one can give more than an hour in a day.
Another benefit to a smaller commitment is that once it has been fulfilled for the day, one can lay it aside and focus on another part of life. Be it family, the honey-do list, or paying the bills, the process frees up time for other areas of life. And this is good. I'm in wonder at what a little discipline can add to a life.
The artist friends I really look up to have developed amazing work ethic and discipline over the years, and this is what sets them apart by leaps and bounds from the casual painter. They have studied, practiced, acquired much knowledge through experience, and they have become masters. Bill Zaner's and David Caton's paintings are of an impressive quality - refined and well thought out, and reflect their years of practice and honing their skills.
A dear friend told me recently, "Things don't matter to me. I could sell everything I have, and sell my paintings for $50 each. I don't care - I just want to paint." That's what it's about, my friends. He'll make history.
