Painting, tired - Why Am I Making This, Issue #4
Hello everyone!
It’s pretty cold today! I am very happy, or would be if I wasn’t shrouded in a pandemic/politics-generated miasma, feeling somewhat tired and listless. But I’m sure it will pass, as these things do.
It’s Julien, the autumn-loving but often lackluster-feeling artist whose newsletter you’ve subscribed to. I’m here to tell you that I am back on a painting binge, the likes of which I have not been seen since... May of this year, I guess, when I first started learning to paint portraits. (Helped by the incredible instructional videos on Cat Graffam’s Patreon, which I would implore you to subscribe to if you are inclined towards painting). In May (and maybe late April) I did 15 small-to-medium sized paintings. Wow! That is a lot.
Late August and September have seen me on a similar pace. I had visions of compiling a list of my recent paintings (well-photographed, of course), my thoughts on each one, and how they followed on from one another, in this newsletter.
Unfortunately, it’s the end of the month already and I’ve been too tired to get all that wrapped up for you, so next month you may receive a big email with all the aforementioned paintings and my thoughts about them. Maybe I’ll even round up the ones I did in May, as well. Wouldn’t that be fun? Let me know if you want to see that. It’ll make me vastly more likely to actually do it.
In the meantime, here’s three photos which, together, include most of the paintings I did this month.
And here’s another couple photos with the painting accessory that enabled most of the later paintings, the fabulous cup easel.
I think I’m getting somewhere with all this painting. I’d love to have a portfolio I’m proud of by the end of the year, and then... go on to sell paintings from a gallery, perhaps, in 2021? Am I crazy? Only time will tell. Regardless, I have no doubt I’ll keep plodding along with painting in the coming weeks. But like I said, I’m feeling tired and might spend more time playing video games for a few days. (In the last month+ I’ve been playing Hollow Knight, Persona 5, and just the other day started Atelier Ayesha.)
Taking a break, and then getting back to art. I think I'm getting used to that - it feels like a natural rhythm.
I hope you are finding time to take care of something you find important (yourself, among other things?) in these tumultuous times. Hang in there.
With love,
Julien