Bichon Frise Portrait 20 of 30 Daily Paintings

This is a little bichon frise painting I did for a regular customer recently.  I said I wasn't going to do any more custom work, but she was a multiple repeat customer, so I couldn't say no.  Plus, she was getting for a relative who had recently lost the dog, so that made it even more important that I do it for her.

It always makes me so sad to do a painting of a dog that is gone.  Even with the still-around portraits I do, I become very emotionally invested in painting the dog's (or other animal's) portrait.  When I know the dog is gone, it makes doing the painting much more emotionally difficult.  It's such a shame that our best four-legged friends live such short lives compared to ours.

Okay, I've got to get my motor running again! My personal challenge.

I've been in quite a slump for several months now.  Too many things happened over the past few months; and even though life is pretty much "back to normal," my painting has really be affected - negatively, I'm afraid.

I finally decided to do a lot of studying, which is what I've been doing with every spare moment lately, including watching a lot painting demos.  But I'm still even kind of afraid to paint now.

So I've made a big decision, for me at least.  I've decided to do my own little daily painting exercise.  Here it is:  From yesterday for the next approximately 34 days (I'm taking one day off each week), I'm going to do a painting every day and post it here -- and elsewhere 'cause I've got to make a living at the same time!  I'll be numbering each painting (that's the first one off to the left here, the little beagle with the red ball in its mouth), which I finished yesterday.

Tomorrow I'll list the one I did today, which is another Oregon-based one, of a robin in the woods.  And, yay!  I saw a robin yesterday.  I know spring is just around the corner now.  And my neighbor's daffodils are blooming like crazy, too; another great sign.  Yes, I know, this is Oregon, and it's only a trick.  But I'm going to pretend it really is almost here.  And then glorious summer! I can hardly wait!  I've even already started my summer garden indoors.  Hope they survive until I can get them in the ground!

Oh, back to my challenge:  This is a challenge just for myself, by the way, to see if I can do it -- and if it gets me going again.  I think it will.  I heard someone say just the other day (what sparked my plan to do this, by the way):  He said that a painter gains a lot more knowledge, skill, etc.,  to spend 30 hours doing 30 paintings than thirty hours on a single painting.  Well, I can't do my paintings in an hour each because, well, that's just not my nature.  But I have set a two-hour limit for each one  (so far, I've almost been able to stay within two hours and I hope to get it inside two hours by the end of my challenge.)  So wish me luck and good painting!

By the way, all my paintings and prints are going to be on my website, http://www.dottiedracos.com, if you want to purchase one of them.

A Change of Mind/Direction - Again

A week ago I re-started doing small daily paintings. I was really going to do it this time -- but I'm not, after all. It just doesn't work with my personality - and my method of painting, which is, I'm sorry to say, of a more laborious, yet relaxed, style. I wanted to learn to paint faster, looser, (more profitably?) -- but I have to conclude that it's just not in my personality or painting style to do so. I still found myself painting a bit too ambitious, albeit smallish, paintings - and feeling frustrated that I was spending way, way too many hours on them, and yet still not completely satisfied with the results.

I don't know what drives me sometimes. I'm "of a certain age," heading into retirement kicking and fighting all the way -- but, as I've been all my life, I still have this drive to master whatever my chosen goal at the time is - and for the past several years and I think for the rest of my life, it's been painting. I've mentioned before, maybe not here but in my other blog, that I've had a few careers in my very interesting life, some of which were quite demanding (i.e., neuroscience/experimental psychologist, self-taught and highly successful court reporter, highly successful ceramics artist, to name a few notable ones). But none of my careers prepared me for the challenges or frustrations of being (becoming) a full-fledged, accomplished painter. It is by far the hardest path I have chosen in my life -- and yet the most rewarding when I "get it right," which amazingly I sometimes do.

Well, I don't even know exactly where this post was headed when I began - except to say that I'm giving up the daily paintings again and feel that it's the right move for me. I need to continue to explore and learn and paint for as long a time as I feel I need to on each and every painting to "get it right," even if it isn't the most profitable method of working. It just feels right for me, and I think that's important. And, so far, my happy clients and customers appreciate the work I do. So for now at least, I'll keep painting along in my own slow, probably not-too-efficient style, and loving every second of it. Now for another cup of coffee and a little while with a good art book.

Blue and Gold Macaw, Parrot, with Toy Ball, Daily Painting #6, July 22, 2010

Here's my painting for today -- again, too ambitious.  It's #6, painted July 22, 2010.  I think I did okay on it, but it took way, way too long and didn't allow me to do my regular work, too.  But it was a lot of fun to learn, and I can see that I am already learning tons more than I was learning by just doing custom paintings.  This difficult grind of doing a painting a day I think is going to pay off in huge rewards after even just a few months.  I'm not claiming at all to be even a half-good painter, but I think that by learning and studying and DOING (Nike was right with their "Just Do It" slogan), I'm going to progress to be a better and better painter much more rapidly than I would have if I hadn't undertaken this endeavor.  Let me know what you think. 

I went to the bookstore today and bought another art book, this time on color theory.  It blows me away.  You know what, I studied neuroscience for nearly five years in graduate school, and this study of art makes that seem like child's play --- seriously!  This is a lot of complex stuff to learn and then to keep juggling it all in your mind and through your hands while at the same trying to do a painting - really, it's amazing that anyone can ever, ever master it all.  But I love, love, love a good challenge - always have - and this is the best and most difficult one yet.  And it'll take me the entire rest of my life to even begin to begin to grasp it.  I can't remember who it was, but some really accomplished artist was reputedly said to have stated right before he died something like "and I was just beginning to get it."  I know that's very crudely paraphrased, but you get the idea.

Well, anyway, this painting and print are both listed on my website and on my Artfire studio (yes, I'm starting to use it more and more as a "gallery" to showcase my artwork).  Here's the link:  http://www.artfire.com/users/LarkStudios. 

Okay, onto that subject, Artfire, as I've mentioned before, I am getting to like it more and more all the time -- but I still am not selling well on it.  I'll let you know if and when that changes; I expect it will.  As I may have mentioned before, there's a way to have it be the "store" for my website, some sort of seamless linkage.  When I have the time to figure all that out, I think it will really pay for itself (which it has to do at some point or I'll have to drop it.)  But again, I expect it will before too long.