Sunday, September 2, 2007

Working in Series--are there benefits?

"Cherry Pop-Tart", Oil on Panel, 6x6 inches
Jerry Lebo, 2007

Well, I have come to the end of my latest series, which I am calling "Bite Me". "Cherry Pop-Tart" is the final of these paintings (a series of six small paintings) that I have undertaken over the last few weeks. If you missed any of them, look at my previous postings or click on the "Gallery of Paintings" link on the right of my blog. I will be posting "Oreos", "Snickers Bar" and the Pop-Tart painting on Ebay for sale in a few days, if you are interested in a purchase. I really enjoyed doing this series, and it has gotten me thinking about whether there is any benefit to painting in a series--or working on multiple paintings at once. I think the answer, at least for me, is "yes".

The first advantage--which definitely came out in the "Bite Me" series, was that working on a series allows you to "feed" off of your own work. While I was painting this series, I kept the others around the easel to give me information and ideas that might inform the painting I was working on. For example, there was a point where I felt I was struggling on the Oreos painting a bit. It was nice to be able to go back to the sense of light and marks of the "Fig Newtons" painting, which allowed me to think about how I might introduce something similar in the Oreos painting. Of course, the Oreo painting is different in that the tonal range is much narrower--but just having the Fig Newton painting nearby as a reference allowed me to think about simplifying the marks and sense of light in Oreos--and help me make a much more interesting painting. Several times when doing these series, when a part of one (say, the background) was not working well, I could go back to the others and see if there was something I could draw on.

I think most painters, at least those who have the time, will work on more than one painting at once. For instance, one of the most common reasons I see artist working on multiple paintings, is that it keeps them from having to continue to struggle with a particular painting that is not going well. Then they can come back to the problem painting later. But, I think that even those painters who are "time-constrained" can benefit from this approach. For instance, if you just hang four or five paintings around your studio and work on each one for a set time, say, 30 minutes (or sixty) and then move onto the next one--I think you will see a benefit. The first thing that will happen is that it will reduce the time you spend painting "in circles"--which can happen if you have a lot of time with one painting. But, perhaps more importantly, if you know that you only have 30 mins. with a painting--you will be much more decisive in your painting. You cannot paint all the details if you only have 30 mins--you will need to see the overall big changes that need to be made to bring it towards completion--and make these first. Try it sometime. Try even shorter periods of time--say, 15 minutes--if you only have sixty minutes in the studio--this will allow you to work on four paintings at a time.

The other benefit of working in a series is that it forces you to focus on what you are trying to achieve in your work--and to develop that particular element. Progress in painting is very slow, so if you can achieve one small thing in a series of paintings--that is progress. If you paint many individual paintings--it is hard to see what you are achieving or what to focus on. Running from still life to landscape to figure painting, can lead you no where. How can you find a thread or consistent vocabulary when your work jumps from one genre to the next? On the other hand, if you plan to do 10-20 landscape paintings in a series, working on the same subject or location, will force you to consider both the elements of what you are seeing in more detail--but perhaps more important, what you are trying to achieve. You cannot paint twenty paintings of the same subject without seriously considering your painting vocabulary and what you are trying to say.

So, I am a great believer in painting on many paintings at the same time. If you only have a short time in the studio, the same effect can be achieved by working in series or on multiple paintings at once. I plan to apply this approach in my next period of work--which will be a series of landscapes of the southwest--based on my recent trip to Santa Fe. Although, I will be traveling for work over the next few weeks--so I am not sure how far I will get. I will need to be flexible to keep up my sixty minutes a day while traveling.

In the end, one of my goals in doing six paintings in series was to try to bring them all together in a more cohesive statement of work--which was both a challenge and fun. I hope you have enjoyed and have gotten something from my postings around this series.

All the best, sixtyminuteartist.

10 comments:

David Berube BerubeArt said...

I completely love working on series. Some limited in quantity, others ongoing.

Unknown said...

very beautiful

robyn said...

I love your work, even though it's a pop-tart, it's still beautiful,

I love the your uniqueness in your art.

Anonymous said...

情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣,情趣,情趣,情趣,情趣,情趣,情趣,情趣,按摩棒,跳蛋,充氣娃娃,情境坊歡愉用品,情趣用品,情人節禮物,情惑用品性易購,A片,視訊聊天室,視訊,視訊聊天,視訊交友網,免費視訊聊天,聊天室,UT聊天室,免費視訊,視訊交友,免費視訊聊天室

免費A片,AV女優,美女視訊,情色交友,免費AV,色情網站,辣妹視訊,美女交友,色情影片,成人影片,成人網站,A片,H漫,18成人,成人圖片,成人漫畫,情色網,日本A片,免費A片下載,性愛

A片,色情,成人,做愛,情色文學,A片下載,色情遊戲,色情影片,色情聊天室,情色電影,免費視訊,免費視訊聊天,免費視訊聊天室,一葉情貼圖片區,情色,情色視訊,免費成人影片,視訊交友,視訊聊天,視訊聊天室,言情小說,愛情小說,AIO,AV片,A漫,av dvd,聊天室,自拍,情色論壇,視訊美女,AV成人網,色情A片,SEX

情趣用品,A片,免費A片,AV女優,美女視訊,情色交友,色情網站,免費AV,辣妹視訊,美女交友,色情影片,成人網站,H漫,18成人,成人圖片,成人漫畫,成人影片,情色網


情趣用品,A片,免費A片,日本A片,A片下載,線上A片,成人電影,嘟嘟成人網,成人,成人貼圖,成人交友,成人圖片,18成人,成人小說,成人圖片區,微風成人區,成人文章,成人影城,情色,情色貼圖,色情聊天室,情色視訊,情色文學,色情小說,情色小說,臺灣情色網,色情,情色電影,色情遊戲,嘟嘟情人色網,麗的色遊戲,情色論壇,色情網站,一葉情貼圖片區,做愛,性愛,美女視訊,辣妹視訊,視訊聊天室,視訊交友網,免費視訊聊天,美女交友,做愛影片

av,情趣用品,a片,成人電影,微風成人,嘟嘟成人網,成人,成人貼圖,成人交友,成人圖片,18成人,成人小說,成人圖片區,成人文章,成人影城,愛情公寓,情色,情色貼圖,色情聊天室,情色視訊,情色文學,色情小說,情色小說,色情,寄情築園小遊戲,情色電影,aio,av女優,AV,免費A片,日本a片,美女視訊,辣妹視訊,聊天室,美女交友,成人光碟

情趣用品.A片,情色,情色貼圖,色情聊天室,情色視訊,情色文學,色情小說,情色小說,色情,寄情築園小遊戲,情色電影,色情遊戲,色情網站,聊天室,ut聊天室,豆豆聊天室,美女視訊,辣妹視訊,視訊聊天室,視訊交友網,免費視訊聊天,免費A片,日本a片,a片下載,線上a片,av女優,av,成人電影,成人,成人貼圖,成人交友,成人圖片,18成人,成人小說,成人圖片區,成人文章,成人影城,成人網站,自拍,尋夢園聊天室

Anonymous said...

eat stop eat -
error fix -
error killer -
error smart -
evidence eraser -
evidence nuker -
ex girlfriend guru -
fatburningfurnace -
fat burning furnace -
fatloss4idiots -
fat loss 4 idiots -
final uninstaller -
fitnessmodelprogram -
fitness model program -
fit yummy yummy -
flattenyourabs -
flatten your abs -
flat to fab -
forex grid bot -
get google ads free -
get paid to draw -
get this off my chest now -
governmentregistry -
government registry -
heartburn no more -
homemadeenergy -
home made energy -
honest riches -
learn photoshop now -
linden method -
malware removal bot -
marketing on the fringe -
maternityacupressure -
maternity acupressure -

Anonymous said...

vince del monte fitness -
warp speed fat loss -
wedding speech 4u -
windo fix -
wrap candy -
zygor guides -
7day ebook -
360 fix kit -
advanced pc tweaker -
adware bot -
affiliate naire -
art of approaching -
beating adwords -
believe and manifest -
blogging in action -
body building revealed -
burthefat -
burn the fat -
carb rotation diet -
cheat your way thin -
cold sore freedom in 3 days -
conversationalhypnosis -
conversational hypnosis -
convert 2 ev -
cure for bruxism -
cure hemorrhoids -
digi cam cash -
digital media solution -
dl guard -
driver checker -
earth4energy -
earth 4 energy -
easy backup wizard -
easy member pro -

Anonymous said...

easy tv soft -
eatstopeat -
eat stop eat -
error fix -
error killer -
evidence nuker -
fap turbo -
fatburningfurnace -
fat burning furnace -
fatloss4idiots -
fat loss 4 idiots -
final uninstaller -
fitnessmodelprogram -
fitness model program -
flatten your abs -
gamers testing ground -
gov auction -
governmentregistry -
government registry -
gov records -
herbal hair solution -
homebre ware -
home job group -
homemadeenergy -
home made energy -
inteli gator -
joanas world -
joyful tomato -
kidney stone remedy -
learn digital photography now -
learn elements now -
linden method -
lose man boobs -
malware removal bot -

www.palencia-3d.com said...

I believe everybody ought to look at this.

Anonymous said...

There is certainly a lot to know about this topic. I like all
the points you've made.

Stop by my homepage: stretch mark removal and home remedy

Anonymous said...

Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts.
Any way I will be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement
you access consistently rapidly.

Look at my web site; how to Get rid of Stretch marks