11 Feb 2015
Art Post is a weekly review of my art related activities. Art Post is published every Wednesday morning by 9:00 am.
This week, I continue to work on the Bold Street Painting Project. This is my big return to painting from 10 plus years as a lino-woodblock print artist. As a self-trained artist, I lack many technical insights that are available to individuals who have completed undergraduates or graduate studio/art history programs.
While some may view this as serious weakness, I choose to view it as strength. I embrace my outsider status and freely explore the out-of-date or passé approaches to art. Sometimes too much knowledge can kill creativity or turn something into a visual thesis rather than something to enjoy.
Maybe, I am fooling myself? You are in a better position to judge than myself.
Anyways, to return to the Bold Street Painting Project, I am not happy with results with the large canvas. So, I have returned to my original plan of working of the sketching details in smaller/single building studies. Once the problems have been resolved, I will return to the large composition.
The one danger with this approach is the large composition may lose all its potential energy. Most of my paintings done in the past were done from life. I find the challenge of completing a work within a single sitting quite fun. However, the details in buildings and urban landscapes require more time than can be achieved in one or two sittings. Also, many locations are not the most suitable for extended drawing sessions. At least that has been my experience in the past.
Chris Erskine
@erskinec
FCSD Studio 