Remember and Inspire.

Edie's Creek 4" x 12" Oil

Back in October when Fall was almost at peak color, I organized a small group of artists to paint at a friend's ranch.  My favorite scene was the creek and the pristine white fence that bordered it. I was fascinated by the reflections in the water. I paint mostly in my studio, so this was a bit awkward for me. Still, it was a great way to get some fresh air, interact with other artists and loosen up. 

Now that the five month long mural painting blitz is slowing down, there's time to examine some smaller  works and see what I can do to improve. I've discovered that I can use the photo editing tools on my PC to see where I might need work. So here's a little exercise I did with this small painting of the creek using only the simplest Microsoft editing tools.

First, I wanted to check values (light and dark), so I slid the color dial all the way to the left. This removed all color and left only grayscale. As you can see from the image below, all the elements are still recognizable. But I like a little more contrast, so next time I paint that creek I will probably want to deepen the shadows cast by the fence, the tree, and the overhanging grasses at the edge of the creek just a tad.

Next, I wanted to see how my fall colors would look if I bumped the color up. So I slid the color dial to the right and this was the result. It's brighter, but isn't true to the colors I saw that day. I'm a bit conflicted about this. As a painter of realism, accuracy is important. However, I do enjoy bright colors and sometimes we have to give reality a little nudge for the sake of creating the mood we want to convey. I remember that day as a perfectly happy one where friends got to play with paint outdoors in the fragrant fall air before winter set in. So the image below shows what the painting might have looked like if I'd used stronger color mixes.

Finally, I wondered how the painting might look if I reduced the light. Would it deepen the shadows or intensify the color? So I slid the light dial to the left and got both. But although it did intensify the color, it changed the mood considerably. It made it feel like the moment when the sun is brightest before a gathering storm. The killer, though, is the impossibly blue water, which reads a bit fake.

Now of course, when we are presenting work to a collector to view, we always want to offer images that are as close to the original painting as possible. And sometimes the camera doesn't capture it well and we have to edit some...just enough to accurately represent the original. It wouldn't do for someone to think they are buying an intensely bright fall scene and then be disappointed when it arrives. That said, the first image is the most like the original. When I compare the images, it makes me want to paint that creek again, but with stronger shadows and greater color intensity.

Which one do you like best? 

We artists hear a lot of buzz about maintaining our brand; that thing we want most to be known for. That takes time and we have to pay the bills while we work our passion. But how do we fund our passion without resorting to a thankless grunt job that leaves us too exhausted to do the good stuff?

Now before you are tempted to remind me that any job is worthy if it contributes to society or fills a need, you should know that I’ve done a lot of those kinds of jobs throughout my lifetime. Everything from waitressing, driving a 14-passenger airport shuttle, delivering newspapers at 3am in every weather condition, selling janitorial supplies, to cleaning grubby office bathrooms. You name it, I probably did it to stay afloat, but always with just a little left over for art supplies. I was grateful for every one of these. You should also know….

...the mural work I’m doing now is grueling, exhausting, and at present leaves little time for the thing I want most to be known for; painting birds and human-made objects to tell a story of simpler times. The difference is that this work is not only highly appreciated, but it’s also creative in nature. Because of that, it’s a smooth transition to introduce people to the branded work, which is kind of hard to do while cleaning toilets.

Therein lies the key. If you are an artist struggling to fund your body of creative work, get work in a related field that is in higher demand. Do that until your branded work is in high demand. And that’s why I’m taking mural jobs one after another. It’s why I insist that every client allow me to place a bird somewhere in their mural. It can be a major feature or as tiny as the one that always accompanies my signature.

The day will come when I no longer have the stamina to set up scaffolding or work in weird tight places for hours on end. When that happens, I hope to have enough momentum with the bird paintings that it will seem like retirement just to quit climbing ladders.

Thankfully, I’m still able to do the heavy-lifting and my audience for the bird paintings is growing. It’s a race against time for sure!

But then I do love a good challenge.

What about you? What kind of work do you do while you build the work you are most passionate about?

I just received word that two of my recent paintings made it into the FAV15% in the BoldBrush competition. These are the paintings that FASO, my website developer, and FineArtViews staff picked as their favorites. Though my pieces did not win any cash awards, this distinction shows that my work caught the attention of some folks who see thousands of paintings every month. That's pretty big in my book. You can view all of their favorites at https://faso.com/boldbrush/fav15/249  

Long ago, I discovered that art competitions net benefits far beyond the cash awards or the warm-fuzzy feeling one gets from winning. It pushes a person to re-evaluate where they are and envision where they could be. This is as true for artists as it is for athletes or restaurant owners. 

A restaurant owner, for example is content to produce standard fare when it is the only one in town. I can attest to this, having grown up in a small town, married someone from a small town, and having explored numerous local small towns when we've gone on day trip dates. When there are several establishments to choose from, though, each one is forced to distinguish itself in some way that will attract and keep the attention of patrons. They have to have either great prices or some fabulous menu item no one else has. Our favorite go-to place when we lived in Minneapolis, The Hamburger Joint, I think,  featured the most decadent chocolate cake I've ever had...before or since. We so enjoyed the nostalgic atmosphere with its high-back wood booths, big framed posters of baseball greats like Kirby Puckett, and their huge burgers and amazing dessert choices. Though there were several other chain restaurants around that offered standard meat and potatoes, I never saw their parking lots packed like my favorite. Those restaurants seemed content with their small band of faithful regulars. This one kept pushing the envelope, and thus they kept us coming back for more.

Hungry yet?

The point? Last spring when I began competing beyond my local artist's group, I pushed myself harder than I ever had before and produced three pieces in one month that have been winning competitions ever since. This has resulted in more eyes on my work. That in turn has resulted in more commissions and more opportunities to compete. 

So whatever you do for a living, push always to be better at it. Find someone in your field who you admire and learn from them. Wow your audience with your skill, or efficiency, or compassion, or anything else that is worthy of improvement. You may find that although some may grumble that you're making them look bad (ignore those), others will see you and begin to improve as well.