How fast do you like to work? Do you paint with great energy and speed or do you slowly contemplate each stroke? Do you feel you are working so fast as to always be on the edge of control (like a fast car going around a curve)?
I've gradually come to the conclusion that painting slowly is VERY important to me. I read about the working methods of people like John Howard Sanden (he insists that artists should "attack with forceful speed" and things like that) and it now sounds very uncomfortable to me.
I almost always produce garbage when I'm pressed for time. I tried some plein air work a few times over the past couple of years and whenever there's a rush -- as there always is in that type of work -- I want to throw the painting away as soon as I get home. Whenever I have a section of a portrait that I want to complete by a certain time (if I decide that the hands need to be done before I have to go pick up the kids from school, for example), I almost always end up having to completely re-do that section another day. Rushing to get the hands done turns out not to have been a time saver after all.
A year or so ago I attended a Tony Ryder workshop (
www.tonyryder.com) and it was like a breath of fresh air. His pace was SO contemplative that the class felt like we were in a monastery. I can be a high energy person sometimes and thought that I wouldn't like that sort of thing. But it was a powerful revelation. Suddenly I had permission to slow my pace WAY down and do each section right (or almost right, at least!) the first time.
I read about artists like Sargent, whose work appears as if it was produced quickly. However when I read about his working methods, it turns out that he would stand motionless, brush in hand, staring at the painting for a long time, before advancing to the painting and placing one stroke. If it wasn't right, he'd scrape it off and do it again. Doesn't sound rushed to me.
Monet also writes,"People think I paint quickly but I paint very slowly." He's the last guy I would think would paint slowly.
Many people have the idea that painting is a creative explosion of speed and inspiration, but it's certainly not that way for me. Watching me paint would be so dull it would be like watching paint dry -- which is what it literally is!
And the best part is, since I decided to allow myself to work at what seems to be my natural snail-like pace, that my work has gotten much better. Ironically, I can complete a painting in much less time now, since there are far fewer revisions.
What's your natural speed of working?
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