I’m Drawing, I’m Drawing Again
I sure do love to draw! There’s something about the act of drawing that’s so immediate, intentional and strong. My urge to draw has been just huge for the past couple of years, and I’ve mostly satisfied it through sketching, or drawing with water soluble pastels or water soluble pencils which I then brush with water to make little painting-sketches. Lately, though, I’ve been finding ways to introduce drawing into my painting process (again).
Today I’m starting a new painting which I began by drawing in some basic shapes with pastel, then adding a bit of oil medium, then some thin paint; now I’m working some oil pastel and oil sticks into the mix. It seems to be going fast, though my plan is for many layers, hopefully creating a glorious texture, surface and image in the process.
No pictures of the work today; I will post some of today’s painting if and when it evolves into something I am proud of.
In the meantime, enjoy your holiday weekend; I am (doing my favorite thing—drawing and painting).
Transformations: The Struggle to Create
“Twisters”
Encaustic and Wood on Panel
12″ x 12″
© 2010 Marilyn Fenn
Creativity is about play and a kind of willingness to go with your intuition. It’s crucial to an artist. If you know where you are going and what you are going to do, why do it? — Frank Gehry
This is a very comforting quote for me. When I paint, I frequently have only a very vague idea or sometimes — no idea at all — of what I am searching for in the new work. I start somewhere, and often, the finished piece is so far away from where it started, it’s unrecognizable. One of my favorite things about working this way is that I discover things — such as shapes and images — that I just couldn’t invent.
Ten Rules of Thumb for Maintaining Creativity
Wendell Castle
Music Stand (1964)
Oak, Brazilion Rosewood
55.5″ x 25″ x 20″
I just discovered this great blog post about an artist/craftsman named Wendell Castle at Emily Evans Eerdmans’ blog. Wendell Castle has been creating amazing furniture for over 50 years. He has ten “Adopted Rules of Thumb” for staying at the top of one’s creative game that I find very compelling:
- If you are in love with an idea, you are no judge of its beauty or value.
- It is difficult to see the whole picture when you are inside the frame.
- After learning the tricks of the trade, don’t think you know the trade.
- We hear and apprehend what we already know.
- The dog that stays on the porch will find no bones.
- Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms it was brought to you.
- If it’s offbeat or surprising, it’s probably useful.
- If you don’t expect the unexpected, you will not find it.
- Don’t get too serious.
- If you hit the bullseye everytime, the target is too near.
To find out more about Wendell Castle, and view more of his amazing creations, visit his website at wendellcastle.com
How Much Do You Plan Your Paintings?
Hex
Oil on Canvas
16″ x 12″
© 2009 Marilyn Fenn
I recently read an article by a representational painter on another blog, in which the writer said that one should very carefully and thoroughly plan one’s paintings. My first thought was, “No waaaaay!” That would take all the fun out the process of discovery that, for me at least, is a great deal of what painting is about. Feeling a little smug, I thought of the following much-loved quote:
You are lost the instant you know what the result will be. – Juan Gris
The Challenge of Becoming a Non-Representational Painter
State of Mind
Oil on Canvas
16″ x 12″
© 2009 Marilyn Fenn
(work in progress)
Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. - Jonathan Swift
Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature. - Josef Albers
I am getting very excited about my upcoming solo show. I’m painting like mad, and I’m beginning to be very happy with some of the results. I think I may just have a future in this wonderful world of painting!
Studio Space – Does it Matter?
The David Hockney version of my studio/office in a cleaned up, but still half-painted, state. (view larger image here.)
I love seeing other artists’ spaces, and got just such an opportunity when Farrell Brickhouse posted pics of his friends’ palettes on Facebook a while back. They have now been reposted on Sharon L. Butler’s blog, Two Coats of Paint, so you can see them, too.
I’d love to have so much space. Last weekend at the encaustic workshop at Majestic Ranch, I got to work in a large, airy well-lit studio, on a large table with plenty of space for all my tools, palette, painting panels, and miscellaneous extras. It really helped my workflow.
Color is the Thing for Me
ZOUNDS!!!
Oil on canvas
6″ x 6″
© 2009 Marilyn Fenn
I am getting very excited about my upcoming solo show. I’m painting like a madman, and I’m beginning to be very happy with some of the results.
When I made arrangements months ago to do this show, I had no fear about showing my work, as I had just come off of a long period of intense and successful creation, and was (and still am) very happy with the work I had created.
But I was ready to move on to the next thing creatively, though I wasn’t sure what it was.
So I began this year by doing lots of tiny sketches and many small paintings, searching for a satisfying direction. I attempted a few larger paintings, but they went awry. At a workshop, I created some new work in encaustic, though in the end I wasn’t happy with most of them. To date, I have completed about 70 pieces this year — which is a lot for me — though most of them are sketches and small paintings.
Then, finally, the realization that color is the “thing” for me, and as long as I’m true to that, I’m happy, and my work succeeds. The other issues – the other elements that go into an abstract painting (shape, form, surface quality, etc.) I continue to think about and work on as well.
How Do You Know When You’re Done with a Painting?
“Bubbling Up”
Oil on canvas
6″ x 6″
© 2009 Marilyn Fenn
I was in a class several years ago in which another student complained about painting abstractly, because she didn’t know where to stop. She said when she worked representationally, at least she knew when she was done — for her, it was when the painting looked like the thing she was representing. Of course, it’s not as simple as that for many representational painters, but often it seems when one is just starting to draw and paint, success is measured by how close one’s piece gets to looking like the object or scene one is depicting.
A Painter’s Obsessions
“Orange Crush”
Oil on canvas
6″ x 6″
© 2009 Marilyn Fenn
For the past year or two, I’ve been thinking a lot about what really matters to me as an artist. What matters most…and what doesn’t?
Let me start with a list, and if all goes well, I will explore these issues in depth over the coming weeks:
- Color
- Color
- Color
- Form
- Shape
- Movement
- Dimension
- Texture
- Surface quality
- Playfulness
- Seriousness
Thoughts Three Years After Art School
“Abstract #12″
oil on canvas
46″ x 56″
© 1994 Marilyn Fenn
(written in 1996)
It’s been 3 years since I left art school. I’ve been painting and drawing nightly for awhile — it’s amazing how I’m starting to really ‘get’ some of the things I heard in art school, but somehow didn’t make it all the way through from my ears and eyes to my brain to my hands and brushes.
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