Friday, August 7, 2009

Patience...or Lack of......

"it is the doing, the creating, the visualizing which is the productive and thus the important - and in that regard, the success of being..."

One of the things I get often regarding my renderings, and am sure is the same with others, is that in doing them, I must 'have the patience of Job' or some similar... this has always struck me as odd in that so far none of my renderings have gone beyond some 60 hours of labor... further, many of those doing oils and acrylics, to say nothing of egg tempera, have reported taking hundreds of hours to completion... what, then is it that spending some hours on a work to achieve the desired quality means having a 'lot of patience'? Sunday painters perhaps? short attention spans or ADHD run amuck? for sure, it does not seem like dedicated artists seeking to ply their visions as well as they can, and in a manner to gain further enhancing quality of craftmanship [and yes, craftmanship applies to artists as much as do to artisans]... perhaps I am unique in that it is the doing - as the quote above says - which is the productive and thus the important that matters... I don't think so, but it is something which would seem a given when being an artist, just as is the case in other endeavors - and yet this patience issue keeps popping up time and again... perhaps it is best, then, to say [to paraphrase from a very popular movie] - anyone can paint, but not everyone should.... the difference between dabblers and committed - and it is the committed ones who are certified, by their efforts, to really being artists - and being proud of their doing, time after time after time, over a lifetime of increasingly progressive improvements, continually 'raising the bar' to achieving Fine Art...

This certainly is no less so when referring to pen and ink artists...

3 comments:

  1. It seems I struck a nerve with a totally offhand remark. I, too, have put 60 or more hours into my renderings...and they are a mere 11 x 14. In my own work, sometimes it is hard to see progress in the subtle stippling. And in general, people look at pen and ink (especially stippling) as very slow, painstaking process taking a lot of patience. Maybe it is the small nib sizes that promote this. Whatever the cause...I too, find pleasure and fulfillment in the doing...and meant my comment as a compliment to your patient understanding of your craft...tazzy

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  2. Not to fear - this is a culmination over time of similar comments and reach a point to me of needing an answering... true, small nib sizes make for incremental improvements - but look at egg tempera for instance, short strokes over and over to layer transparency into deliciously vivid images, the same deal essentially... the same with oils - and yet rarely hear such comments on them... so a rant...

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  3. Home early from the Arts in the Park gig...run out by threats of large hail and 60 mph wind.

    But the comments I received today go along with this discussion to a tee. Lots of "how many hours did it take you and how do you have the patience" or "I don't have the patience for something like that"...Oh...and my favorite..." I can't even draw stick people."

    I did lots of smiling and explaining the process to those that were really interested and might have picked up a couple commissions.

    Bottom line...anything worth doing, is worth doing well...and that takes time.

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