Committing to Play

It is a commonly held idea that giving ourselves time to just play, to experiment without a particular goal or expected outcome, is important to making art. [It may be important to living a healthy life, generally, as well]. But many of us, through cultural conditioning, have a hard time with this. If we know it is good for us, then maybe that makes it easier. What are your experiences with play as it pertains to your art practice or to your life?

I feel that my art practice is a some kind of pivot point: there is some Old Stuff I am shedding, stuff I no longer feel compelled to work towards, and I'm excited to explore New Stuff. Though the idea is a bit amorphous at the moment, the thing I feel like chasing is PLAY. Creative play. What does that mean? What does it look like? I have no idea, but for starters I'm going to call it a state of mind. 

A little visual joke on one of my Moving Targets

As a teacher I say all the right words and give good advice regarding the necessity of play and experimentation, but am I really practicing it myself? I don't know if my work has become more work and less play, but something feels stuck or stale or in need of a re-think. 

I would like to commit to a practice of play, of noticing when I am in the playful state of mind while doing creative work, and when I am not. Are there activities that can induce the play state of mind? Are there some that squash it or smother it? (Yes) My working hypotheses are:

1.  I will make better work if I am having fun. If I am really playing, I will discover more possibilities, more ideas, more ways of executing ideas, and ultimately my work will be better. I might make less of it (which is fine!), but it will reflect my sense of humor and my perspective more authentically.
2. Cultivating and valuing that play state of mind will enable me to let go of the external voices - the imagined expectations of others - that seem to still be getting in my way (see this blog post).
3. By learning how to play, I can help others (as a teacher), tap into their own playful side more effectively. Learning to play will help me be a better teacher.

 I do have fun in my studio at times, and I definitely have fun teaching. I just want to pay more attention to the play and fun aspects of it all and see if I can lean into that a little more.  

I would love to hear your thoughts and your experiences on this topic. 

Please comment below.

Here is a post from 2018 about Art for Fun. It expresses some similar thoughts through a different lens.

 

OK, I do get a bit silly while teaching. That is part of the fun!!

Jane's Art Basics - How To Start A Painting?

 Do you get stuck at the blank canvas? Do you want to paint but don't know how to start? As your art practice evolves you will develop your own go-to strategies for beginning, but if you are new at painting, here are a few suggestions.

• Don't start a painting. Start multiple paintings. 
• Do start with an inexpensive, low-stakes, substrate such as Bristol or 80# Cheap Drawing Paper
• Do focus on the practice, the process, not the 'finished' painting.
• Don't try to finish a painting. 
• Do give yourself a time limit if that helps. 

Here is a video on The Five Minute Painting (this is an old one, not great quality):

 

A group of 9"x12" five-minute paintings

I made these 9"x12" five-minute in one session, which was a total of one hour.

Be assured that there are infinite ways to start a painting, so you can't find the correct way, nor can you start the wrong way, in terms of the first marks you make on the painting surface. You can start with an attitude that will facilitate beginnings. 

Your measure of success is: you showed up and applied paint (or collage or drawing) to a surface. You made marks on a substrate. That's IT. Omit the habitual evaluation and self-criticism. Just leave it out; it is totally irrelevant to this part of a painting practice. 

Let the painting practice be an ongoing inquiry, not a production line. You are discovering what the paint can do, what is in you, who you are as a maker of images. It is a long, slow, ongoing process. A practice. If you set your expectations accordingly it can be extremely engaging and fulfilling. If you begin with the expectation that you will Learn How To Do It Correctly, it can be very frustrating. You will make good paintings - your paintings - when you make a lot of paintings, with attention and focus on process, and with curiosity. Enjoy!

Cat Bennett has several books that are encouraging and helpful for making art as a practice. There are many other books and resources on practicing art, but the real learning is in doing the work. Get the paper out, put some paint on it, pay attention, repeat.

Supply List For Beginners

I have been asked a few times what supplies I would suggest for a person just beginning their art practice. So I put together this list of recommendations for those interested in working with acrylic paint, collage, and drawing materials. Download the list here.

My general advice on art supplies: start with basics - paint, brushes, paper, drawing tools - and if you want to do collage, paint your own collage papers. Leave out the fancy stuff: metallic or pearlescent, fluorescent, glitter, or dimensional paints, special-purpose paints such as pouring paints, alcohol inks, and the like. Not that you won't try these products at some time in your journey, just don't rely on the bling factor to make your art for you.

 

Even though I use professional quality paints, I suggest the beginner use decent-quality but less expensive paints such as Liquitex Basics, Blick Studio Acrylics, or Nova Color Paints. You don't want to feel too precious about your materials. Ease into your acquisition of professional quality (expensive) paints.

 

 I have created a list on the Blick Art Materials website. You can order from the list, or just take a look at each product and find comparable products at your favorite art supply retailer. 

 

This is my Beginner's Supply List. Download it here.

 

Why Do You Make Art?

 I want to ask: What are your aspirations in art-making? What does your ideal art self look like? Where are you trying to get with your art? Is your goal a moving target or fixed? But... in the end it's all the same question. Why do you make art? What is your primary motivation for making art?

I am sorry that I have to moderate comments. It is because I have gotten a TON of bot-generated spam. Please do comment, though. I do check every day and publish all comments that are not spam. Thank you for your thoughts, and for visiting my blog.

Practicing Art - A Conversation

I posted a photo of my mini-collages on Instagram @janedaviesart and got an interesting question:

Is there a purpose to making these and saving them? I’m asking because I tend to purge art that is not created for display. I have mixed feelings because I enjoy the creative process, but it’s not really a piece of art, per se.

I invited an e-mail conversation so that I could address this question that many artists have: if it isn't practical or doesn't make a salable piece, what is its value? 

Here are some of the mini-collages:

These are each 4.5"x6" on Bristol, collage pieces are painted papers. My 'rule' was to use three shapes only, three different colors, on each one. The next step is to crop them, visually, at least. to see if I can make interesting negative spaces.

Here is the conversation:

Q:  My main question was if you had a purpose in mind when you created these simplified works, if you save them, and how you view the  time spent creating them.  Are you working towards a goal or just doing them for relaxation?

A:  When I need a break from whatever larger work I’m doing, OR when I’ve been out of the studio for a while and am rusty, the best way to get ideas moving is to keep my hands and eyes DOING something in the studio. Not thinking, but doing. And that takes on many forms. This little exercise I just made up and did a LOT of them. The main point is to do SOMETHING with hands and eyes to generate ideas, see where it goes, keep in practice, jog something loose, get back to some basic ideas, etc. It is not for relaxation, though it might be relaxing.

Q:  I tend to feel guilty if I spend a lot of time and money on materials with art ‘just for fun and relaxation’ vs. a finished piece.  I could make dozens of simpler works, but I’m not sure what I’d do with them except throw them in the trash eventually!  My Inner Critic tells me that it’s silly to waste time just doing things for the fun in the moment and then throwing them away, since there is no practical use for them.  

A:  Yeah. I hear you. And probably so does every other artist, especially women. 'Be Useful, Be Practical, Be Thrifty or you are wasting time, wasting space, wasting money', etc. is a strong inner voice in our culture. It reveals our own lack of confidence in the value of our work, and in the value of art generally. In my view, the value has to start with YOU, the artist, not someone else putting a price on it or putting it to practical use. This shift in attitude takes years and constant vigilance. When there is stuff To Be Done (practical), and I am in my studio making useless little collages, my belief in their value has to be stronger than the voice saying I Should Weed The Garden.

I can not make good, real, art that is truly mine unless I constantly explore, constantly make and observe, and allow myself the space-time-money to make work that does not see the light of day. 

To tell you the truth I do not know what will become of my little collages, and that is the furthest thing from my mind as I am creating them. It’s paint, paper, matte medium (for the glue), a little time, a little process-focus. To me the value is in doing it and “keeping in shape” as an artist. 

Q:  I’d love to hear your take on it; why you create so many simple, practice works, with good materials. What is the purpose, what do you do with them, etc.,  so that I can stop feeling guilty when I “play” and spend time lots of time just for the sake of enjoying my materials, and the end product has no real purpose other than the joy of creating in the moment, unworthy of sharing as a piece of art.

A:  I don’t think of them as ‘practice works’. Doing them is just part of Doing The Work as an artist. I recommend to my students to keep the focus on process and on developing and maintaining a HEALTHY ART PRACTICE. The good, genuine pieces of art, art that is yours, is a byproduct of your healthy art practice. Let it show up on its own, don’t force it.

Interview on The Elusive Muse

Here is an interview with me, published on The Elusive Muse recently.  Check out some of the other artists interviewed too - they represent a broad spectrum of work.

I am going to copy the last question and answer here.  It seems to have resonated with a few who commented, so you might want to skip the interview and see if this little pep talk is of any interest:

8. Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring artists?

Yes. Make a lot of art. Make really a lot, and give art making a higher priority, by a long shot, than even taking classes or reading books about art making. It is important to get instruction and to learn techniques, but it takes time, and LOTS of art making, to absorb whatever you learn and make it your own. In the same way, it is important to look at other art, get inspiration from other artists, but it is only in the making of art that you gain from the inspiration.

I think really good and authentic art comes from being on your edge, pushing yourself just a bit beyond what feels comfortable, from NOT-knowing. If you feel out on a limb, sometimes frustrated, not sure what to do next, then you are probably doing it RIGHT. Often I find that aspiring artists have the idea that they SHOULD know what they are doing, plan out each piece of art knowing exactly where they are going, and feel competent the whole way. I say, change your expectations: let yourself get uncomfortable and out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere, and practice that state of uncertainty.

Do not worry about developing your own “style”. Just make art, and your voice will emerge. If you try to force it, you will only limit yourself. Just my two cents.

There.  Enough of my ranting. Tomorrow I will post the winner for the Extreme Composition online workshop giveaway.

An Attitude of Practice

Here are a few examples of pieces that started with Speed Painting.  These are on 9"x12" Cheap Drawing Paper.  I consider them practice.  Practice making marks, practice working in series, practice questioning and exploring*.  Paradoxically, though not surprisingly, when I work with this attitude of practice, I loosen up and make my best work.  Continuing to cultivate this approach, in all my work, is what I strive for.

 The following are demonstration pieces I made in Santa Fe.   These are the fall out from the same approach to the speed painting, though using different techniques.

Any approach that gets you going, gets you making marks without trying so hard to make Good Art, can be used to cultivate this practice, help you get out of your own way and find a freer path to creative expression.  We explore lots of these exercises in Big Fat Art and Art Therapy for your Inner Critic, coming up in October.  See Drawing Blind and Stacks of Shapes for two other ways to explore mark making on cheap paper.  It's FUN!

*If they turn into "pieces", pieces I would keep/exhibit/sell/frame, I simply coat the back side of the paper with acrylic matte medium.  This makes the piece archival and sturdy.

Looking at the Trees

I am at Art and Soul in Portland, Oregon now, teaching lots of classes and having a great time.  Pix of this event are forthcoming, but in the meantime I wanted to post a video I made a while ago, and share with you an idea that has seems to have been helpful to people in my workshops recently:  Looking At The Trees.  As opposed to The Forest.  Zooming in more than zooming out is another way to look at it.

The fact that each move you make on a painting changes the whole painting can be a bit intimidating, and leave you always zooming out, looking at the forest, to see how each brush stroke has affected the whole.  This is an important part of the process, but I think we often zoom out way too soon. What we can end up with is a painting that falls short of its potential, a painting that grew up too quickly, that might be pretty on the surface, but lack depth and character.

While working on a painting, try focusing on the trees, zooming in, more than you zoom out.  Pay attention to the process as you work, enjoy the feel of the paint, the pressure of the brush, the gesture of a scribble; look at the minutia: how this line crosses over that one, how one color affects another, etc.  Enjoy the contrasts and contradictions; surprise yourself, let yourself not know where you are going, leave it open-ended.

Invest In Art - Invest Smart In Art

When we use the word "invest" rather than "spend money on", it implies a return on the investment.  As opposed to "consumer spending", where it is simply money spent for a short-term gain, such as buying a bottle of wine to drink rather than to cellar and sell later. Sometimes that distinction is clear, but in many cases not.  Do you buy art because it will be worth something someday?  Or do you buy it because you get pleasure from looking at it?  In the first case it is a financial investment; you hope the art will grow in value, and you can sell it later at a profit.  In the second case - buying art because you like it - you are investing in yourself.  You are gaining quality of life, pleasure, from the purchase of art. If original art is beyond your budget, you can buy a print.

Rocky, my lovely hen, agreed to be a fashion accessory to my Invest Smart In Art sweatshirt.  You can get your own sweatshirt, as well as aprons, hats, and more from Duo Studio Designs.

Another way to invest in art is to spend money on art materials.  Only you can determine what constitutes appropriate spending on materials (some say that you should ONLY buy the BEST art materials, but I think it's more important to buy what you feel comfortable with).  More on this in a later post.

And a third way is to take the occasional workshop.  Invest your time and money in learning something new, meeting like-minded people, and getting the stimulation of working in a group, whether in person or online.  This is a true investment in your SELF. Taking a workshop says "I am worth it; my art is worth it", which is a very positive and empowering statement.  As you can see from my previous few posts, I gained a LOT from investing in the recent drawing workshop.

Putting In The Hours

I just got my copy of Daniella Woolf's new book, The Encaustic Studio, published by Interweave.  It is a gorgeous book, full of techniques and ideas, and a very thorough introduction to encaustic material, safety, and practices.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get started in this exciting medium.  Plus, it comes with a DVD (brilliant move, Interweave!), so you can see Daniella demonstrate the processes.

Daniella's insightful chapter on Studio Practices and Creativity inspires me to recommend the book to any artist struggling with the Inner Critic, the Inner Perfectionist, the Inner Procrastinator, in short, any artist at all!  One passage that really hit home for me is her section on "putting in the hours":

There is something that happens in our bodies when we put in the hours.  Confidence appears, fear lifts, and we have a sense of empowerment... One day the process becomes easy and natural, and you'll wonder why it was so hard at first.

Don't be discouraged if your initial efforts don't match your vision.  Keep making art consistently; put in the hours and don't worry about the outcome.  Do what's necessary to make room in your life for time in the studio.

I wouldn't say that making art ever becomes easy, but your relationship with the struggle becomes less of an obstacle.  The Inner Critic can more easily be told to take a hike.  Picking up the paint brush or making a quick sketch becomes natural.  Being in the process and not worrying about the outcome becomes easier.  Making bad art becomes just part of the process, not some "failure".  And making art that you like happens more often.

Art and Yoga

As an artist and a yoga practitioner I see connections between art and yoga ALL THE TIME.  I am longing to develop some kind of art workshop that focuses on those connections, one that presents art-making as a kind of yoga practice, as a meditation.  But when it comes time to verbally articulate that strong connection that I feel in my gut, I come up short.  So I thought I'd throw it out there and see what you think of the idea.  Here are a few (possibly disjointed) thoughts:

• Yoga, done properly, calms and focuses the mind.  When I am in my art-making zone (which doesn't happen in every session; so be it) my mind is focused and in some non-linear place, transcending reason and logic.  Calm?  Maybe excited, maybe calm, it depends.  Maybe this is the switch-over to the right brain, as described by Betty Edwards in "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain".  Or maybe it is a more spiritual thing.  Or both.

• In this "zone" I let go of attachment to a particular outcome.  In yoga, you don't strive to achieve a perfect posture, but rather let the posture be a vehicle for paying attention to your own body, your sensations, responses,  and finding your own edge.  You use the posture as a tool for awareness, not as a goal to achieve.  Likewise, in art-making you can pay attention to what IS, and pay attention to your own responses.  Let what is on the canvas/paper/cloth be what it is, and respond to that, rather than comparing it to some mental construct of what it ought to be.  Of course, it is always a balancing act, both in yoga and in art-making: where do you direct things a little, when do you allow yourself to be directed?

• This connection may be a stretch (so to speak), but I see in art-making a distinct integration of process, material, and idea.  You can give varying importance to these elements, but they are all in there, united.  A distinguishing characteristic of yoga is that it unites mind, body, and spirit.  Some aspects of yoga emphasize the spiritual, where other emphasize the physical or mental, but in all yoga practices these elements are all there, united.   

Of course, I can't do a post without images, so here are a few of my recent encaustic pieces.

This is stage 2 of a work in progress, 8"x8".  I used a torch to burn the paper-laminated wood panel, then coated it with encaustic medium and a little color (alizarin orange):

This is a work on paper, 9"x9", using encaustic, collage, and india ink:

 

 This is also on paper, 4"x6", in encaustic and collage.  It is for a Post Card show, which will be on exhibit at the Sixth International Encaustics Conference this June:

In my relatively new encaustic endeavors I'm especially aware of the anxieties that can accompany exploration of new territory.  This is where the non-judgement and steadiness of effort - two pillars of yogic thought - come into play.  Let me know your thoughts!  Thanks for visiting.

Sketchbook Practice Online

I've been having a ball with my Sketchbook Practice workshop here in Vermont, and enough of you expressed interest in an online version that I am now offering that as well, starting on April 4.  We will do some drawing practice, collage doodles, ink doodles, self-portraits, and generally give our ideas room to percolate and play.

 

Give your art practice a boost this spring and join The Sketchbook Practice Workshop online. Or just get out your sketchbook, make a pot of tea, and draw something, play with paint, collage, or explore the media of your choice.  See my tutorials or The Sketchbook Challenge Tutorials, or just go to the Sketchbook Challenge blog for some inspiration.

SURVEY RESULTS!!!

Thanks again to all of you who participated in my Art Practices Survey! Here are the results. Not every detail, but the general picture. Please e-mail me if you have specific questions about any of the results. I left out a few of the questions in this summary, as I didn't think they'd be that interesting to anyone but me.

The vast majority of you have been practicing art for over five years. And many in that majority have been creative since childhood. I am impressed with the number of you who started in the needle arts or fiber arts, learning sewing or knitting from a mother or grandmother.

Your mediums of choice are: Collage, Artist’s Books or Art Journals, Mixed Media, Fiber Arts, Painting, Drawing, and Other, in that order. This is how it looks in the graph representing the responses. But in your comments it is clear that many of you love fabric and fibers, and maybe that’s been your entry point to mixed media and collage. Loads of you report trying a lot of different mediums. YAY!

You spend an average of eight hours a week on your art, and many of you report wanting to spend more.

Only a small percentage of survey respondents have taken workshops with me. Many report not having had the opportunity, or having just found me on the web. THANK YOU for taking the survey, even though you have not met me or taken any workshops! And thanks to my faithful workshop attendees too!

Most of you take a few workshops a year, and you take more online workshops than in-person ones because of the convenience. Most report preferring in-person to online, though many report preferring both.

The average respondent bought seven or eight art instruction books in the past year. YAY! We need you to keep buying books, even though so much content is available online. Thank you!

Which areas do you need more instruction in? Of course, many of you checked multiple areas, but the results show: techniques, drawing, and composition, as the top three, with Maintaining a Consistent Art Practice, Understanding Art Materials, Painting, Color, and Other, in that order.

What are your goals in making art? The vast majority of you want to find your own artistic voice, and many of you would like to sell your art. Almost all of you do it primarily to enhance your own life. Very few of you report having FOUND your voice.

Your main challenge in making art is Time. For almost everybody, though for a few there were other things: frustration at having too many ideas or techniques available so that it is challenging to focus. A number of you reported feeling like you have trouble being original, that you resort to copying and would like to learn how to develop your own style. Lack of confidence showed up, due to that ever-present Inner Critic. Discipline was on the list in some cases.

Thanks again to all of you who participated in the Art Practices Survey. I will close that one for now, but post a new one soon. Please let me know if there are particular questions you would like me to ask. Any feedback is welcome. Sorry for the lack of eye-candy in this post.