Do you have some wonderful ideas that you are saving for a future masterpiece? Do you need time for the idea to percolate, like decades? Are you waiting for your skill level to reach high enough to attempt your masterpiece? What if you get to that point and after trying the idea it all turns to be dog poo? Think of all the brain cells you may have wasted over the years? You get the idea: should you paint every idea when it comes to you or save some for later?
Paint them now. You can learn from your attempts, and if you still think theyāre great ideas, you can always paint better versions when you improve. If they stink, call them āstudies.ā
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Gary, I took a photo while in Spain last year that I want to paint, but I know my skills are not where they need to be at this time for me to do the painting AND be happy with it. So I did a pencil study of the scene just to confirm that it will translate into a good painting. That I am happy with. And I put the photo in a folder that I labeled āfuture paintings.ā As Connie said, there is always something to learn from an effort. But I also think some things need to be put on hold. I have that painting in the back of my mind, and I know that daily practice is helping to improve my skills so when I do try it, I have a better chance at feeling successful.
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I do. I keep a file for references and make lots of notes in my sketchbook. Sometimes I am working along in one genre, say landscape, but all the while I am collecting ideas for something else, like still life. Or I make notes and sketches regarding a process or technique I want to explore but am waiting for the right subject to come along. There are not enough hours in my day to paint every idea when it comes along! And sometimes it is quite a long time between the generation of an idea and the actual execution of that idea in paint.
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I have SO MANY that now I do not save them at all. I havenāt looked back at the ideas I already have saved! Itās usually a photo I took with a couple of notes about how Iād change a few thingsā¦but I have so many I realized that if I canāt paint now-donāt save. Iām sure a lot of the ideas are good but I figure with that many ideas ā¦ itās okay if I donāt save them because I will always have more.
With so many things demanding my attention, my issue is the follow-through, for sure!
I just read a book called "Big Magic " about creativity and inspiration. Author said if you donāt act on inspiration when it comes to you it may get up and leave. It may go find some one else. I agree with Connie. Paint it when you feel it. You can always paint it again. If you lose your vision itās really hard.
Hi everyone.
I have just started posting paintings on the Daily Paintworks auctions.
I have been taking part in the latest ā30 in 30ā challenge which due to time constraints means Iām just doing small paintings, but the impetus to paint everyday has given me a ton of ideas to tackle once Iām finished with 30 in 30 challenge. It has given me lots of ideas for larger paintings.
The 30 in 30 challenge also means that if I mess up or Iām not happy with a painting, Iām still posting it to my blog and writing about what I learned in the process (I wonāt be auctioning those). I have found it is a great way to toss your insecurities aside and just have go. So if itās not a masterpiece today, then maybe one day, the idea will be!
I keep a regular notebook / sketchbook too to write down ideas when I have them.
A sketchbook frequently serves as both a notepad and a journal for me. Its blank pages serve as a birthing ground for fresh ideas, allowing techniques and media to be tried. It served as a visual diary for me.
I always embosy my ideas right away. I use as much skill as I can, and of course it doesnāt always get exactly what I wanted, but at least I learn. The point is, if I leave the idea for later, it can burn out. When I reach the ārightā time for its implementation, I would most likely have other more interesting ideas. And by the way, it is more difficult for our brain to go for those tasks that we have postponed for a very long time. The brain has already mark such a task as āimpossibleā
I wouldnāt say that Iām specifically saving ideas - just that there are so many I canāt keep up with them! And thatās considering I generally work small, fast and often. If I could paint them all as they came to me, that would be great, but Iād need at least 20 extra hours in every day, and an endless supply of energy, which sadly I do NOT have these daysā¦!
I have a folder on my PC called āto paintā where I put photos Iāve taken that Iād like to paint from someday. I crop them and sometimes tweak the contrast or colour slightly, to remind me how I envisioned them on canvas when I saw the subject in front of me. I tend to cycle through subjects - one week I want to paint still life, another week landscape, maybe the next month I have a cityscape phase. So I check the āto paintā folder regularly and pick out older pictures to work from as I go through these phases. This folder has been invaluable as Iāve been shielding for likeā¦ a year and a half, now? So photos have been a lifesaver, as they allow me to still paint landscape or people without actually having to be outside!
I also carry a sketchbook when I go out for walks in the countryside with my dad, so if I get the chance to stop and sit down, Iāll do a few quick sketches, as well as taking photos, to remind me of the atmosphere and any details the photo wonāt capture. And I keep lists of still life subjects I want to work on, sometimes - if we have some nice fresh fruit or flowers in the house, Iāll keep a running list of āthings to be painted before they go offā so I get as many done as possible. My memoryās not great, so this really helps me focus.
I see ideas everywhere. I go out for a short walk, and come back with twenty possible compositions. I paint two or three, but by the time Iām done Iāve found five or six new ideas to add to the pile. So Iāll never get through all the ideas I haveā¦ but thatās okay, Iād rather have loads of inspiration than not enough!