Not Perfect, Just Kind of Constant In NOT Quite Right

OK, I was told that my art style is "loose" which I've been told is something that artist strive for. For me it's all "loose" as I don't think I could draw a straight line. The good thing is, all of my non-straight lines together appear to result in something that people (and my self) likes.

It happens almost everything I start on a drawing, I mess up. this angle is wrong, these lines I missed, etc. but I keep going forward. Art is not perfect but an interpretation and in my life I skip a lot of things (aka, details) to get to the larger concept which is what I end up with.

If I was to try to draw perfectly then my style would ceased to exist. Go figure.

It's more of a reflection of my life where, yeah I miss details but the bigger picture is there.

I feel for people that want, strive or need everything to be perfect. I've read articles where that's a hard personality to have because of the stress on one's life. From a software Engineering background I've seen perfectionists that get frustrated with non-perfect software that they have created. I've experienced projects that never get finished or released because of the concept of "perfect" is not realistic. The problem of perfect is that it's subjective, both in software (how is this supposed to work) and in art (what I'm I looking at?).

You can get close to perfect with checklists and procedures but art and life is not a thing but an experience.

So in your art (and life) keep plugging away.

Comments

There is no "Right" way.

It's not that your way is not the right way, it's that everyone has their own right way. So which is the right way? Is there a right way? Software development is full of discussions that revolve about the "right" way of doing something. The terms used in discussing software design, tools and implementation are so undefined as to make them meaningless. Code is not designed and written in a vacuum, it's designed by real people in real companies, each with their own constraints and issues. Code that may look like a hack could have been the result of an employee dragged out of bed at 2am by a company shirt that only cared that they they did not lose their personal client the next morning. Everything must be looked at in context. A project written to "Best Practices" may never be finished before development funding dries up. Goals, vision, constraints and thoughts should be somewhat aligned for project to be successful (or at least enjoyable ...

3rd Try is a Charm

I've been trying to draw / paint these barns for a couple of years but never felt or got them right. This time I think they turned out right. So What went wrong before and what's right now with this drawing? This time, the light was right. It's coming from the upper right and the shadows just looked right. The other thing is the corn field on the left had to "be in season", otherwise it's just a plowed field. I had taken other photos from different angles but they never felt right. This angle has the road, power lines, corn field, etc. all leading to the right. The shadows on the lower right helps fill in that corner (don't forget about the corners!). The last part is trying to draw (ink paint maybe) the trees in the background. Not so easy when they are kind of a blob is green shades. So yeah, it's composition that is king. Many times I just don't see it until the drawing / painting is finished and when it's right it feels goo...

So THIS is My Style?

If I play around long enough my style will appear. I'm guessing that this is kind of it. I'll keep working on other techniques in watercolor but for now this appears to be my style. I do like it and others appear (to my face) to also like this. Not every one of my paintings is a success. About 1/3 so far, but when they do I am rather pleased that anything good comes out of it at all. I do love color. Color is happy and outdoors is full of color, be it the west or back east with the greens. Color color color. Also doing some painting on hot press paper and see how that goes. Later......

A Person, Artist, Software Engineer, Geologist.

Search This Blog