October 17th, TMS Newsletter excerpt:
This week I have a free ebook to tell you about. If you are
interested in cp techniques or doing portraits, stay tuned. I also have a
complimentary kick in the pants for you. J If you have been reading my newsletter these past months you
will have noticed that I am rather fond of offering taps to your rear – done
with love and good intentions of course.
Rather than a kick, let’s think of it as a gentle nudge –
a gentle nudge to not get complacent.We all do.
Let’s assume you have been carving out time for art this fall. Perhaps
you have been making progress but art making has still been a bit more hit and
miss than you would like.
Just how much art
could you churn out anyway? Ever thought about it?
Sometimes it crosses my mind when I see someone I consider super
prolific.
I think the
following numbers put Pablo Picasso in the super prolific category.
Consider this:
It
is estimated that Pablo Picasso made over 1,885 paintings, 1,228 sculptures,
2,880 ceramics, 18,095 engravings, 6,112 lithographs, 3,181 linocuts, 7,089
drawings plus 4,669 drawings and sketches in 149 notebooks, 11 tapestries and 8
rugs.
Does
this seem humanly impossible to you?
Heck,
I would be stunned to churn out a couple hundred sculptures, one or two rugs,
just 1000 lithographs, and a few hundred ceramics.
Picasso
said "What one does is what counts, not
what one had the intention of doing." Ouch.
Having all of the best intentions in
the world doesn’t yield art, not if we don’t act on those intentions.
I
do not have goals to master carving or to create sculptures. Nor do I wish to
invest the time required to become an accomplished potter or rug maker. I am
content to stick to my fine art. But what about filling 149 notebooks like
Picasso did, with well over 4000 drawings and sketches?
Obviously it isn’t about the exact numbers.
What speaks to me here is that incredible productivity is possible – at least
more output than I am currently producing.
This
week I have looked back over the past twelve months and I have examined what
art I have produced. I looked at the number of pieces, the style, the size and
the complexity of the work. Following this assessment, I set new goals for the
upcoming year. I set a number that stretches me, especially when I take into consideration
the hours that I invest in the business side of things. I won’t be in Picasso’s
league but I really like how having this new number feels.
I
invite you to do the same.
Have
a look at your sketchbooks, your stack of canvases or other finished pieces.
Are you amazed at how much you have accomplished or are you perhaps a bit
disappointed? Don’t despair. The gift of the next twelve months can bring many new
accomplishments.
Set
some goals and post them (so you don’t forget).
May
Picasso inspire us all...
___________________________________________________________________
Now
for the ebook I mentioned. The author of the ebook is coloured pencil artist
Nicole Caulfield and here is the link: http://www.nicolecaulfieldfineart.com/zen-series.
At
this stage of her career, Nicole is choosing other subject matter for her art
and as a result she didn’t finish her portrait book (see her comment regarding
it not being edited etc.). Still, I share the link here as there is a lot of
great content in the ebook and if you are interested in doing portraits, this
is worth checking out. Nicole’s section on creating the right lighting for a
person’s pose is very helpful.
Even
if you are not keen to do portraits, I think you will find her personal
coloured pencil technique interesting to learn about. You can also have a look
around her website and visit her facebook page for her latest kitsch work.
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| our meadow at sunset |
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