Commit to a (Small) Project
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been producing hand-painted greeting cards for a fundraiser my friend Doris Smeltzer and I began planning in December. She runs a nonprofit called Andrea’s Voice, which focuses on eating disorder prevention and education. So far this project has been great for creative productivity.
Of course the obvious effect on productivity is that I produce the cards that have been ordered. I improve my skill at calligraphy and painting. I get practice at signing my artist’s signature. I get better and faster at making cards.
But I also have had a chance to make another creative product. For a long time, I’ve been meaning to write down the process I use to make the cards, both for myself (if I don’t make any for a while, I forget how) and as a product, so that other people can learn to make the cards too. I hope to create a How To document and possibly a video, as well as templates that people can use to create similar cards. So, as I’ve been making the cards for my first orders, I’ve been refining the process and documenting it, which is getting me closer to that goal.
However, in terms of creative productivity, the most important effect of this project has not been any particular product. The most important effect is that I’m getting lots of practice in starting, continuing, and FINISHING projects, including packing and shipping the completed cards. I’m practicing planning and managing my time in order to finish each order on time (“allow 7-14 days for delivery”). I can’t do all the orders at once at the last minute, first because there are too many and each card must be worked on in four sessions with drying time in between, and second because of RSI. I can only do the lettering on about 20 cards before my arm starts to hurt. I have to work on them in sessions. I’ve been doing my best to work on them every day, and that has gone pretty well so far. A few days ago, I finished the last of the early orders and sent them off! It’s very exciting.
I’m usually afraid to commit to something like this, because I worry about being able to meet expectations. But for some reason this time I didn’t worry. Maybe I knew I could handle it: I’ve made these cards before and know how. It’s true that I didn’t know how everything would work when I approached Doris with this idea, but I knew that together we could figure it out. And now I’m done with my first orders! (Yes, I did have a serious setback while working on the cards. But I also overcame it. I will tell you about it in my next post.)
I encourage you to commit to a project, nothing too huge or scary, something you know you can do. I’m sure the benefits will be great.
P.S. If you’d like to order cards, click here.
![Copying, Live
About a month ago, I wrote a post about how much I had learned from copying a painting out of a magazine. Last week at Frank Francese’s workshop I tried another method of copying. The painting shown here is the result. For this painting, instead of watching Frank’s demo and then trying to replicate the entire process, I painted along with him as he demonstrated, attempting to replicate his work brushstroke by brushstroke. Here is what I noticed about this process:
1. It was much easier than waiting until the demo was over to paint. I believe this is because when you wait, you have to think and remember. When you copy brushstroke by brushstroke, the only task is to try to keep up.
2. The painting I ended up with turned out much better than any painting I had done with the “watch demo, then paint” method. Why is this? Because all the thinking and planning and stroke order was master level (Frank did it all) and only the paint application was novice level (me copying). When I did the “watch demo, then paint” method, I had to do my own planning because I could not remember exactly what he had done. It’s possible that this could be helpful for learning because it allows the student to focus on a single skill (or at least a reduced number of skills).
3. Copying in this way gave me a physical understanding of the difference between what a master’s body knows how to do when he applies paint versus what my body does not yet know how to do. I think this will be helpful as I attempt to gain mastery.
4. Frank paints fast. But I can paint that fast, too, as long as I know where to put the paint. Woo hoo! So I will continue to practice, and I will improve both my execution and my speed. (And that will of course be great for creative productivity.)
I am glad I tried this method of copying, and I think the experience will ultimately lead to improved art skills. This painting shows a level of skill that is beyond my current abilities, because it shows only my paint application skill and uses someone else’s composition, method, and planning. But I did actually execute this painting with my own hand, and I believe that that experience will help guide me as I develop my own working methods.
The painting is on a quarter sheet (11 x 15” [28 x 38 cm]).](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luugruNgRQ1qgywdbo1_1280.jpg)
![Frank Francese Workshop
This week I am taking a watercolor workshop with Frank Francese. I am thrilled, because being exposed to his method of painting is going to help my creative productivity like crazy! Here is how he works: When he’s walking around and finds a subject he likes, he does a line drawing of it. Then later at home he adds values using grey markers. (He just makes up the values, using his knowledge of what things look like plus his sense of composition.) When it comes time to paint, he does not draw on the watercolor paper. He works from his value sketch and in 20 minutes he can finish a full sheet painting (22 x 30” [56 x 76 cm]). He does hundreds of paintings a year. I love it!
His way of working may be the closest I’ve yet seen to the way I originally imagined a master artist would work, before I started to study. Basically: see something, paint it. My original idea was that an artist would paint from life or imagination, with all the measuring etc. taking place in his or her mind/eye/hand, due to having studied and practiced so much. That was my original goal, to become that skilled.
I think I must have chosen that goal partly because I thought that was what other people did. But as I’ve been studying, I’ve read many art instruction books that are full of measuring, drawing on the paper, gridding, using masking fluid, and even tracing photographs. Not that there is anything wrong with these methods. They are just not what I had originally imagined, and the unconscious conclusion I drew from reading all this material was “No one can do what you wanted to do.” So I’ve gotten away from my initial goal without realizing it was happening.
But seeing Frank Francese work has reminded me of how I originally wanted to work, and of how much fun I have when I work like that. I think that even though my original image may have been naive, it would still be good for me to fashion my own working and learning methods with that original image in mind. I think that will get me closer to creative authenticity. And I will enjoy myself more!
The image is (a pretty bad photograph of) a practice painting from the workshop, done from one of Frank’s value sketches. It is on a quarter sheet (11 x 15” [28 x 38 cm]).
In the interests of creative productivity and writing about things as they are happening, I am going to publish this post, even though I can see that the writing is pretty much as clunky and unskilled as the painting and the photograph. I hope that you can more or less make out what I am trying to say. And I will keep trying to improve!](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lubvxn0GeZ1qgywdbo1_r1_1280.jpg)
