PaintBox Tip # 77 working in series

One of my students who attended art school many years ago was taught that working in a series is a "cheat" for artists. I disagree. A series, or a body of work, is important to artists - we create a body of research and reference, it does NOT make sense to use this for only one piece of work. Think of all the time and effort gathering all this information - could I add the hourly rate for all this time to the price of one painting? questionable.

a scientist specialises in a particular field of research, a lawyers and doctors practice in their specialist field. They are continually referring back to their previous research and work and developing it - making it more and more relevant. 

And this is exactly the same process for artists. It is a pragmatic decision to work in series, your brain starts working in a certain way, and, even though you may have painted several, you’ll start to discover new ways to develop your subject, new ideas, different light, different angles, palette/season, mood etc.
 
For example, I started my Glamping series some years ago, most years I revisit and create 5-6 new paintings that can be quite different from previous years. They obviously have the same source but each year they’re a little more developed, style wise and concept. Sometimes it’s a safe haven or confidence booster when you’ve had some success to work on a familiar series.
 
I admire artists who paint only one subject – my friend Mo paints amazing clouds and cloudy skies, Shirley paints beach scenes and another (his name escapes me) paints WWII aircraft. To have a passion for a subject as deep as this is truly incredible. I, however, need more variety, I work on 2-3 series, adding a new subject/concept from time to time, some of which become series and some not.
 
Some subjects may not work for you immediately they may need more development and/or skill, don't give up, good things take time.
 
Whether you succeed or not at every new subject is irrelevant. What is more important is the effort to try and improve; the study of each subject helps you to get better in preparation for the next.
 
 what's your thoughts?