Painting Moods
 

Do any of you find you need to paint slower or more meticulous, but can't at times?

I will vary from portraits to still lifes, landscapes..whatever is on my plate at the time. I find that if I have done a few portraits I am ready to do something less challenging and loosen up a bit. The problem comes when I need to get tighter again - and can't seem to.

A lot of it has to do with time, if I know I only have 3 hours at the studio because of appointments I might turn to the painting that I can accomplish the most in during that 3 hours.

After painting fairly loose on a few florals/still lifes recently I can not seem to get into the proper groove for a figurative I am working on. I am going too fast and loose.

Anyone else who may have this annoyance please speak up and tell me how you deal with it. I tend to vary how I paint with different subjects. Unfortunatly the time it is taking me to get back to another way is ticking me off.

Another issue is that it is cold here (no heat on in the studio when I am not there), so my paintings are taking weeks to dry. As a result I have 4 paintings in the works right now. So I am switching back and forth as they dry.

I almost feel like it's me though - been runnig around too busy and can't seem to catch the 'relaxed' mode it takes me to get tighter.

I put slow, very relaxing music on the CD player when I want to paint more slowly and carefully. Works every time.

One thing that works for me when I need to slow down and become more meticulous and focused on my work is physical exercise. Riding my bike, going for long walk's and weight lifting, these exercises all seem to help me concentrate and generally feel better. I think its the extra oxygen that you take into your blood stream while exercising that increases your concentration and ability to focus.

The only problem is in the winter months one can't get outdoors as often, indoor exercise for me is much harder to accomplish, I'm not to crazy about my treadmill. :)

I think that most people tend to have their own 'pace'. Like walking, hiking, reading...should I actually choose (it's never happened) to paint faster or slower, it rarely takes me more than about 5 minutes to slip into the alpha zone, or whatever one chooses to call it, and I will always revert to my own pace. I just know this happens, and I don't see any reason to fight it (which of course would be a hopeless endeavor.)

All my life I have preferred to paint in silence - even if there is music on somewhere, I don't hear it after a few minutes, and if I did, it would be annoying. However, I accidentally found that I can listen to audio books all day long, follow the plot, and never lose my concentration. Obviously some nether reach of my once well-funtioning, and now occasionally questionable, mind.

I am very sensitive to environmental distractions, so when I teach, I just ask students who like to listen to music to bring their own Walkmans (Walkmen?). This point being indirectly related to pace - I don't want anyone to be moved off his or her individual pace. I think it's part of us, and being externally pushed to change it can be a dreadful distraction.

Of course I have no idea how universal this is, but you might think, Kim, about how you structure what you do to embrace what your own natural pace might be.

Pace....

I really agree with what you're saying, Chris, that we all have our own optimal pace. One of the deep down core things I discovered in the Tony Ryder workshop is that my optimal pace is much slower than the way I had been working.

My whole life is full of too much rushing and when I took that into the studio, I would end up having to do so much rework because my inital efforts (and many passes after that too) were fast -- and wrong.

I started a new portrait yesterday, slowly and meticulously. So far so good -- we'll see how it goes.

I've worn out my dozen or so slow paced CD's! Anybody got recommendations for new ones?

It is also hard for me to keep the world out of my "studio", especially when my studio is anywhere I can get comfortable and find good light in my apartment. Working full time, taking two night classes, leaves me little time for drawing portraits I want to do. Especially when one has to also squeeze in exercise five days a week, time to keep my mind healthy with meditation/yoga/prayer...whatever works!!!

The days are too short, there is too much to do. It is very hard for me to get into the zone, but when I do....aaaahhhhhh!! It is a wonderful feeling to get into the flow, to enjoy what you are creating, and worth the hours of tediousness, exercises, distractions, frustrations. Finishing a portrait where I feel I have grown and improved is the best and most rewarding experience!!

Michele, one of my favorite CD's to put on is Joao Voz E Violao by Joao Gilberto. Sometimes listening to music, soft, soft vocal and guitar, in another language really calms me. I think you would enjoy it!!

Happy painting....

Welcome to you, Cynthia, and to other members too!
Ivo.

I can certainly relate to Michele when she spoke about having to rework areas of the painting due to rushing things. I have discovered for me that when things are in total "chaos" around me, I will refrain from working on a commissioned piece and will work on oil sketches/studies or drawings. I think it's important for me to stay busy. It's amazing what one can accomplish with a clear thought process. This past Saturday I couldn't pull myself away from my Studio because of the "flow" I was into while working on a bust. I had achieved the best temperature range in this portrait that any of my previous, completing about 70% of the painting in eight hours of work.I worked at a much slower pace, calculating each brush stroke prior to placing it on the canvas, replacing speed with accuracy while attempting to maintain a more "painterly" look than my previous work.

Michele,

Sarah Brightman's "Harem" really puts me at ease.
Very soooooooothing!

Avoiding the "Gotta do" voice
 

I know that for me, the "Gotta get it done" inner voice has to be quieted. And the only way I find to quiet it is to get started painting, while telling myself over and over that it doesn't matter if I get it done soon or not, even if that's a lie. Pretty soon I find myself in the Zone.
I'm like you, Chris - I can't handle extraneous noise of any sort. Glad I'm not the only one out there.

Thanks for all these tips.

I am starting to think it has something to do with music. My CD player broke and my studio has old pressed tin ceilings which block out all radio stations except the one local one. The local one is a country station. I know I am in TX and all, but I hate country music. It is so whiney and annoying, not to mention sad. It makes me want to go have a beer at 9:00 am and cry in it. I think I need to replace the CD player!

Music is my savior, I must have music playing. I may not "hear it" when I am painting, but if I don't have something on, I start hummimg. Obssessivly repeating the same passage or song until I drive myself nuts! Not to mention the people around me.

Music relieves pain, cheers me when I'm sad, slows me down when I'm feeling frantic, and helps me focus. Get thee to a cd player fast Kim, before you start humming.

Jean