September 26, 2007

Self Analysis #538...

Archives - 2002 - Veldt 2 - 14x28

There's no doubt in my mind that I'm going to be fully (relatively speaking) functional for another twenty years or so... I may be slowing but I'm still a player for a good while yet. That said, there's this panicky rush I get when I realize how much I'm leaving undone. Not enough time to check out all the nooks and crannies of art-making I didn't fully explore. This nagging feeling that I'm overlooking or neglecting something important.

Which explains the kaleidoscope of ever changing ideas having to do with image, technique, composition, medium, etc. that whirl around... probably old thoughts never acted on are now coming back to haunt me. I want to do it all and the result is I can't get through a decent painting without changing direction three or four times. I see plainly what I want to do, but that image keeps shifting, the direction is skewed, new ideas are substituted and off we go again. Makes me feel very inept. Probably my insistence on working large is a major reason why I can't complete a visual thought... rats!

I could say more but I just got this great idea...!

6 comments:

Olga Norris said...

Having spent time recently looking at Picasso's thought processes and admiring the way he just tried so much out by constantly having his eye and hand working, I wish that I could work like that. I internalise too much, and want whatever my hands produce to be quite near the final decision. I often have times like yours when I cannot move forward because I keep changing my mind - I have not thought through enough what I want, and the 'in the zone' thing is not working properly.

Do you produce lots of visual thoughts like Picasso did, or are you too an internaliser?

Karen Jacobs said...

I probably don't 'internalize' enough, Olga... 'fantasize' might be closer to it. Not enough forethought, ie: sketching, studies, whatever it takes to get your idea in a form you can tweak before setting out on the final production. But I've also argued that the best of your creative energy goes into the first draft and the follow up is dry. My experience, anyway.

Daphne Enns said...

You may have just written my next post for me.

I'm working but I'm not planning ahead enough anymore. In the end I find that I'm then having to retrace steps because of my impatience lately.

I like happy accidents occasionally but I'm ruining the best part of it all for myself-the process. Instead there's a lot of panic and self-recriminations...

Annette Bush said...

Karen
Sometimes you just have to explore whether anyone likes it or not. You'll find lots of paths to follow but at some point they'll all come together! Meanwhile, just enjoy the trip.
AAB

Olga Norris said...

Yes, I too have found in my own work that the first go is the best one - but at the back of my mind I've always had the vague question of whether I would be better for sketching etc. I guess by now it's too late, and I shall go with the flow - especially as it is moderately satisfying.

Karen Jacobs said...

The old saw about having to kiss a lot of frogs before the prince appears continues to hold true. I get a bit skeptical when things happen too easily, too quickly. Mine or others...