PaintBox Tip #​65 how to get fired up when you're not fired up

ode to country & western!!

edited from my original post 070115

It’s really hard to create a painting about a subject I have no interest in, having said that, I can make myself want to paint a particular subject simply by working through a research process and getting to know and appreciate the subject.

Imagine what it would be like for me to be told Country & Western theme ... ?**$#@!!**^??

Guess what? You can get fired up about any subject too!!

While I was still working in the corporate world but dabbling in watercolour painting, I was thrilled that my tutor would supply the subject matter. It meant one less thing for me to worry about, all I had to do was turn up every week and she'd have an amazing array of cool stuff she had pulled together for us. Barbara was a tremendous creative facilitator.

Another upside to this was that I learned to accept what was in front me, whether I liked it or not, this was no time to be fussing and complaining, I had 3 hours of painting time in front me, better get to it quick!

In writing this post I realise too, part of my inspiration for a subject came from our group discussion about the subject and everyone's ideas. Some of my best painting experiences have been painting in a group.

The more research I do about a particular subject the more passionate and determined I become to paint it. I fall in love with the subject ... it could be something as simple (?) as a brick wall or the way the light falls on a glass and the shapes and colours it creates. The intricacies of a subject become fascinating, although I don’t paint a lot of detail (this must have been written a while back!), I go through a process of studying the detail and deciding what I will leave out, what to include and which details describe my message best for that piece of art.

Typically my research might include a small sketch or two on site as well as a bigger more formed sketch I call a plein air painting. When I’m in my studio, if I’m painting from my imagination, I create lots of doodles and lots of composition thumbnails. I’m  reluctant to paint  scenes from a photo preferring to paint en plein air, not always possible and although I’m wary, I’m very happy with a lot of them.

For me, there is a driving force to create and always has been. Among other creative endeavours, I’ve always drawn and painted. It seems stronger now than ever and I think this may be, in part, because I work as a professional artist creating and painting most days - total immersion is good!

My brain is more switched on to looking for subject matter and planning my next work – everywhere I see a painting waiting to be painted. The more I look for subjects the sooner they appear - the more I paint the more ideas I get.

Happy painting!!
ciao amici!!

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Early Morning, via Vittorio Veneto is a case in point.

3 reasons not to paint this scene

1. there's a lot of pink - yikes
2. I couldn't draw it
3. it had never occurred to me to paint this scene

My painting buddy said let's paint pink!! I was so frightened!! 

I didn't want to paint there - frightening!! but what made it worse? I couldn't draw the jolly thing!! I was so frustrated, I could not get my head around it at all!! So I drew straight onto my watercolour paper.

To compensate for my inaccurate drawing of the scene, I jimmied it around a little to suit. 5 years later I'm still so happy with the result, it's still one of my favourite paintings. I had to work really hard, there were so many barriers, sometimes a challenge is the way to move us out of a funk!

For me easy and comfortable are not always the best.