Speed?

[Michele Rushworth]

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?

[Kimberly Dow]

What a great post Michele!

I think speed goes along the same lines as loose vs. tight. There is a natural speed for all of us, and it's best to follow that. I've been told I'm really fast, by you folks here....maybe I am, I don't know. I tend to think it's about the amount of hours I work. There are parts that flow rather quickly sometimes. I just try and go with it...whatever feels right at the moment. That sounds very silly maybe, but whenever I fight what what I want to do in paint, it does not come out well. And, each painting is a little different. One may seem like it will be a breeze, but it ends up taking weeks. It's all good.

It is a good thing you have decided what your own pace is.

[Lacey Lewis]

I think I might be somewhere in the middle speed wise. I think I start off faster (but definitely not an "explosion") and then slow down as it gets closer to being finished. But, this subject reminded me of a wonderful teacher that I had in college:

A figure drawing teacher of mine would drive the class totally nuts. He was constantly changing the rules and telling us to use different approaches. One of the first days, he had the model change positions nearly every minute and ran around the room yelling "Faster faster faster!!" He was so enthusiastic, he would literally jump up and down and stomp. He would personally yell at each individual student as he went around the room. There was a flurry of scribbling and swooshes of paper turning on our pads. I remember feeling so stressed, it was like I couldn't breathe or even move my pencil as I saw him approaching.

For the 2nd half of the class he insisted that everyone slow way down, slower than a snail's pace. Again, he would spend time over each person's shoulder, their pencil barely moving, "Sslllloooooow doooowwwwwwnnnnn....."

I thoroughly enjoyed the class.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

I usually draw and paint fast, but I don't like deadlines.
Sometimes I go very fast, other times very slowly. Sometimes I paint day and night, others... I keep just looking at an unfinished canvas for days...

I went to the Bank twice today and the result is below, ordinary pencil on ordinary paper and no eraser!

[Tom Edgerton]

I'm pretty slow, and slower when I'm struggling with a new hurdle. But as I get over it, I find that there is a natural acceleration over time as whatever new techniques I'm trying become comfortable. I used to worry about it, but I don't much anymore.

Richard Schmid on speed:

"Slow down for the hard parts. Slow down for the easy parts too. Their easiness can be deceptive. Try to develop an enjoyable steady pace as you work. Painting is not a race. Savor what you are doing. (You wouldn't gobble down a gourmet dinner.) Work only as fast as accuracy will allow. Speed will come with experience. Besides, it is necessary only when the subject is changing fast, and even then a slow, cool assessment of what is occurring, and careful paint application, are better than trying to frantically capture movement as it is happening."

Pretty good advice, to my mind.--TE

[Michele Rushworth]

Painting is not a race. Savor what you are doing. (You wouldn't gobble down a gourmet dinner.)

Well put!

Tom, as I think I mentioned in another post somewhere, some of the very best advice I've ever received came from you. A couple of years ago I was trying to find ways to save time in my painting process and to work faster. You said that sometimes the solution is to slow down. Ironically that turned out to be true: I now have better quality work and the work is "right" much sooner. Thanks again!

[Tom Edgerton]

Michele, thanks...

Usually when an artist arbitrarily speeds up, it's when panic is setting in, either because the painting isn't coming together, or a deadline is looming, or whatever. The problem is that that's when thinking goes out the window.

Best--TE

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Numerous artists of the past would spend as long as a year on finishing a painting. I think besides the individual own comfort zone or degree of experience, it also depends on the degree of detail in clothing and background setting. The more elaborate a work is, the more attention it needs.

Obviously the approach also determines speed, when layer upon layer is built through glazing, by nature you have to wait until the canvas is ready.

I don't perform well under time pressure either and prefer to take my jolly good time. This can sometimes be a very long time.

[Alexandra Tyng]

This is a very interesting question! As I was reading everyone's responses I was thinking about how I work. People who come into my studio are are usually amazed at how "prolific" I am, but although I get a lot done, I don't actually apply paint quickly.

Recently I set myself a challenge to get more movement and "life" into my portraits by working faster. I discovered that if I was very careful about eyeballing the correct facial proportions and sketching them in with charcoal or even pencil, I could complete a head in an hour and get a good likeness. I have been much happier with the looseness and the descriptiveness of the brushstrokes. I also just came back from Maine where I painted for a week with an artist friend. We set up our easels and st ourselves a goal to capture the scene in one, two or three hours, which is really all you can do before the light changes too much.

What I realized, reading this thread, is that I don't think my speed of execution was any different in either of these situations! The difference lies, I think, in the speed of my decision-making, and the knowledge that I had to complete something in a given amount of time.

Was it Michele who said that if she tried to rush to complete something, she usually ended up doing it over later? Well, this happens to me, too. I think the problem is one of inconsistency. It seems logical that, when we form a concept of a painting in our mind, we include the degree of finish in the concept. And the degree of finish is related to how much total time it will take to execute the work. So if we are working on a large formal portrait that we are planning to spend a while painting, it would be inconsistent to rush certain aspects of it and spend a lot of time on others. But if we are planning to spend a short time on something, the whole plan of attack is different. At least it is with me.

But I still think I don't actually move faster as I am applying paint.

Alex

[Henry Wienhold]

When it comes to painting portraits, painting quickly and pushing up the pace just seems unnatural to me. I like to think of it as being cautious, rather than slow. Whenever I try to paint fast and loose. I'm always dissatisfied with the results and end up doing it over.