It was an interesting insight I thought ....actually, one that has resonance right now as I poke around trying to find the next move. But, I ask myself "is it an answerable question...what am I going to make?" Is it a straight line from an answer to that question to completing a piece? Is it even an important question to ask oneself? Does making art have to have a difficulty component?
In my case, most often, I think it isn't the beginning that causes the most frustration. I think the most difficult question is "how will I get it done?" That question has more significance to me than "what is it?"
So I might start with an idea about where I'm going and not too far along I begin the questioning. Am I using the materials the way I need to finish with some balance? Do I like the colors or combinations of colors I've chosen? Were the choices of line, color, brush size and type I made arbitrary, or made with haste so that any outcome I imagined could never materialize? How would I approach this if I had more training?
Experience is perhaps the denominator here. My artist friend has lots more, so the question of what to make is different for him than for me? I think, maybe. I know that on some level the choice of what to paint is made with lots of energy coming for my unconscious mind. I think that's pretty exciting...that I might not know all there is to know about the choice at the start. I have to think also that my unconscious mind plays a big role in whatever is going on when I reject an idea for a starting point.
Anyway, I think just getting going, regardless of the subject chosen, is the most important step in art making. I like the idea of the concept evolving during the process. Maybe that's why I have difficulty sustaining the idea that I ought to build a stylistically similar series of pictures?
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| Pastel and charcoal on paper/18"x24" |
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