It's the most common question an artist can get. Why do we care how long it takes? An artist's speed is always of fascination to people, especially collectors. In our early stages, it does take more time, more effort, more ways to discover what your art is to be. We're all racing against the clock to make art and live our lives. There is the myth of artistic struggle-it is easier to value intensive physical labor over conceptual endeavor when an artist's thought process can feel so intangible and sometimes impossible to grasp. In reality, everything is based upon time. A movie is two hours, a song on the radio is less than three minutes, mowing the yard is less than a day, more than an hour.
Sometimes, if you are not restrained by time (deadlines), you can completely submit to the experience. You don't think, you just "art". So why does it matter again? It maybe that time is the one thing we all have in common. When I answer this question, it is like trying to explain a recipe. "Well... I spend time thinking about what the subject might be, what the central composition element will look like, then I spend time setting up the digital file, searching for images, placing those images in selected areas, sometimes moving them around til I think I have it right. Then I overlay the large element, is it right or do I need to adjust the opacity or add more solid color pieces. Now that that "hard" part is complete, comes the printing part, printing in pieces plus duplicates in case I need to replace or repair in the assembly stage. Cutting the individual squares does take alot of time. Oh, and sprinkle in the time to buy good wood, cut it and build the hardboard panels that will serve as my canvas and frame. Yes, it is painted and sanded and set up for easy hanging. Now the glueing comes in to play and that takes time to gently place and secure each square piece. Once dry (like the next day), I seal the art with a matte medium to protect it and allow a better surface area for the drawing with oil sticks. Ok, I give up at this stage, it just takes a freaking bunch of time. Maybe 30-60 hours! So in short, the answer to how long does it take? IT TAKES AS LONG AS IT TAKES. I don't thinkg about it, I just ART it!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Jeffrey A. StapletonNothing fancy here, just some thoughts and pictures to help understand my state of mind, maybe. Archives
March 2021
Categories |