Process

Process as it pertains to creating artwork generally has negative connotations. However, without processes we would be constantly reinventing the wheel with every work that we create.

Tree & Sea #6 - 6x8

When I have a student who is relatively new to making art and wants to draw people, I will show them some of the formulas that I have come up with over the years for drawing hands, eyes, noses, lips etc. Having these formulas as a learned approach they can apply them to their art when confronted with the more vague aspects of whatever reference they are using.

With painting I also tend to think in terms of process. For example, I will approach any scene that I am painting using a similar process. I will start with a board that has a colored surface as opposed to white. I will do an underpainting. Then I will paint the sky. After that the darker aspects of the landscape forms and then the middle tones of the landscape and lastly the lightest areas.

While I may vary or change some aspects of this process, for the most part it serves me very well for any kind of scene that I want to paint.

This is the same sort of approach that the old Masters would use and that is where I learned my basic process. A lot of modern artists tend to think that art should be created from some lightning bolt of inspiration, divorced from education or consistent effort.

While there is a chance that you could create something decent once in a while this way, for the most part this is not the case. What I see instead is artists without any moorings, ideas or training, flailing about with the inevitable result being they tend to resort to copying other artists work.

A good process is like an empty house that is well constructed. You fill it with beautiful furniture as well as things you care about. If the structure is sound than life can proceed there without unnecessary drama.

In his book ‘Alla Prima’ Richard Schmidt outlines several different processes that he uses when creating his work. Richard is a genius and has thought very deeply about all the different ways he can make a painting. I'm pretty happy with the single process that I've arrived at and teach.

Having an approach that is consistent enables you as the artist to more easily focus on dealing with the thousands and thousands of decisions that go into creating a work of art. I would encourage you to think more about your process. I think it's fine to start with someone else's and amended as needed.

Since the creation of art is a very subjective act there is little chance that by utilizing another artist process you will lose your individual creativity. I think the real key is to follow your interior guidance through each process that you implement while creating your work. Use the colors that you like. Paint the sizes that feel right for you. Go after the scenes that you find stimulating or moving. Use the brushes that give you results you find satisfying and so forth.

I've settled in to my processes very deeply. I see little reason to change any of them as they have served me well. You could almost say that the process is creating the art and not myself. This idea however would lead us into some very deep philosophical waters. A topic that will no doubt be discussed in a future blog post.

Take good care and stay out of trouble,

Mike