Myself included. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy commissions, and delivering a painting to someone has great meaning to me. I also enjoy the process of creating a new painting. That’s a big part of why I paint: it’s the joy of painting, and seeing something come to life with each brushstroke.
Often, I get so busy painting for others, my list of “things I want to paint” gets longer and longer. Sometimes, I’ll take a break–sometimes short, sometimes not-so-short–to check off an item on that list.
Lately, it’s been a bit different. I’ve done a couple of what I’ll call “miniatures,” and one that is normal-sized.
The miniatures are 6″ x 6″ on canvas board, and are food items! When I look at things (EVERY thing) I see reflections, how interesting it is, and how much fun it would be to paint. One such miniature is “The Gala.” The image above is the 6×6 of “The Gala” on my easel.
“The Gala” took me just a few hours to complete, which made me think, “I should do more of this!”
And it’s a food item, so suddenly I have a new category of things to look forward to painting. I (we) need that to prevent getting “stuck.” That being said, artists need to be consistent, and that need for consistency includes both style and subjects. It makes our work recognizable, which is important. When someone sees one of my paintings, I’m hopeful that they’ll immediately know, “That’s a Jerry Cave painting.”
