Escapades of a Lazy Artist

    First of all, who in their right mind would call themselves a lazy artist?? Aren't we all supposed to be awesome superheroes who save the day with our quirky charm and save the day with our unique mysterious talents? 

    Being difficult enough to get admirers to part with their hard-earned (or not) money, I should be positioning myself as a successful artist, not a lazy artist or a (God forbid) Starving Artist! 

    Hear me out. When I have a brush in my hand I'm anything but lazy. I have the actual 

disadvantage of taking my paintings too seriously. Each new undertaking has to be at least awesome - if not the next masterpiece. And each new painting is chosen because a) I'm attracted to the scene, and b) I think I can pull it off. 

    I'm not a "formula painter" or "one subject factory". I don't make different versions of one scene or subject as a permanent exercise. Each one of my subjects or scenes take on a different approach. And I often grow intimidated by it as the painting progresses, knowing full well that my next painting session will make or break the painting.

    Knowing how I want it to turn out as a certain "look" or "effect" causes me to resist   alteration of my vision and letting the painting "take its own course", which might often allow for a decent painting despite it variance from my original intention!

    No. I tend to force things and expect certain effects to take place, fixing paint applications 

so they conform to my vision. No I am not lazy while I'm working. I'm mentally the opposite! If anything, I'm a bit obsessive!

    My laziness comes in on merely getting my arse into the studio! Oh, the errands distractions that keep me from getting there only 30 feet away from my chair in front of the computer. The pics I don't feel like loading into my desktop. The time it takes to heat up the studio. The food I need to cook for now and later. 

    It's amazing how my fear of being disappointed in the success of my undertaking, having now consumed 5, 10, 20 hours, keeps me from getting back to it. Am I lazy or just a scaredy cat - afraid of my own uncertainties and mistakes?

    Well, I'll admit on my newly 2 yrs retirement attitude of being sick of have to, have to, have to. I can't seem to shake off or wear out the feeling of, "Good. I'm finally retired. Now I ain't gotta do sh*t!" I'm glad to be able to be lazy! 

    Sure. I'll make art, but at my own damn discretion! Yeah, it's lazy and not a formula for

prosperity, 'far as I can see.

    Escapades? I don't know... Internet, social media, research, youtube, cooking, errands, surfing through past photos for future projects..., certainly not productive activities here. I would prefer being in the company of my peers. There's a nice vibe when being with your own kind. Things flow better. I'd get more done. 

   I'd also be a lot more motivated to create more if my inventory was moving more. I know you know what I'm talking about. When people "consume" what we do for them we feel more motivated to do more!

    Well, I guess this blog is more of an explanation than a description. Maybe I'll have to do a follow up. Any thoughts on this?

Confidence, Persistence and Rejection

"Winter Walk"

    Being a self taught watercolorist, I've had my nose buried in plenty of books and magazines, my eyes surfing pictures of pictures and videos of watercolor creations, the likes of which I thought were untouchable, made by the earlier generation of artists - my mentors, you might say. A little bit along the way I started reading articles on legal issues, getting into galleries, making portfolios and the rest of the gamut. Occasionally I see articles or blogs on the subject of "rejection". Most of us have had at least a little of that in life - job seeking, relationships, high school cliques, etc. The writers of these articles always seem to approach it with a bit of tone of Sympathy.

    While I won't venture to write a book about it here (although I could), I'm no stranger to it and have found in life that if I wanted to pursue a goal or a even simple activity, I had had to do it myself without company or so much as a blessing in many cases. I refused let someone's lack of agreement and camaraderie control or dampen my goals, activities and pleasures.

    There's a word I believe has fallen out of use today: "Effective". We have a world glutted with pretty and fancy, but rather "user-UNfriendly" products.  With lots of bells and whistles, fewer people are thinking in terms of simple effectiveness. And nowadays, pleasantness presides while being effective and "getting it done" is heavily measured by how few people were "offended" in the process. Getting the product takes persistence and guts.

    Well, this applies to art, too. It takes guts to show your paintings around, especially when you're fairly new at it. Dealing with criticism and the world's indifference requires undying, burning embers in your heart. This is where that "thick skin" becomes needed and handy if you are going to pursue art as more than a hobby. I personally recommend throwing in a dash of defiance! If you've been sharpening your skills  - learning, practicing, observing, over and over - you're probably already your own most severe critic! (But don't forget to be your own best audience as well!)

    People go around saying, "Be confident!". Oh, yeah? Confidence, to me, is a byproduct or result of wins and successes. Until you get enough of these under your belt, no matter how they come, you'll need your stubborn persistence to lead the way. Talent alone is not enough.

    Rejection? Pffft! Even the best artists get it. I get local awards with relative ease, yet I got turned down when applying for signature status directly in a couple groups. I achieved it anyway in one club due to being accepted into 3 shows - 2 with awards from an outside judge! (Clique mentality? Maybe) I even have a place where I collect rejection notices! It's a game, a numbers game. The more I get, the closer I am - given that my quality is improving!

"The Whispering Wood"

    So, with persistence in hand, you now need to increase your skill. These will increase your successes. And who can deny that more skill equals more success? Be good - so good your work can't help but be accepted. It may not be 100% of the time for reasons out of your control, but you'll come to realize as you progress that it wasn't because of your skill. You know now that your work is usually pretty damned good, outside of "low periods". You've become "undeniably good".  And that's my solution to the question of rejection: 

"Be undeniably good".