Time to Slow Down & Evaluate Your Work

My Recent Watercolor
(Copyright 2012)

Back in the studio working diligently--that's what we painters should be doing. But it's July 1st, which means this year is suddenly 1/2 over.

It's also summertime in the northern hemisphere, which can cause anyone, not just painters, to slow down a little bit. It's called vacation in the US, holiday in the UK, ferien in Deutcshland, and whatever else you may call it in your country.

It's not that I'm not painting, because I am--I just completed an acrylic yesterday.

But I am working at a somewhat slower pace. It is time for slowing down and taking a look at what you've accomplished and where you may be headed as a painter and artist.

When I finish a painting, I like to let it "sit." That is, when I say it's finished I put it away, out of sight, where I can't easily get to it or look at it with some difficulty, such as opening up something and digging around for it.

I do that not only because nobody is at my door (or on Facebook) waiting eagerly to purchase it, but also because it is the only way I can objectively evaluate my own work. I have to get away from it so I can see it freshly with clear eyes.

Today's image is a small watercolor I completed a couple of months ago. I stashed it in my painting portfolio away in a corner so that I couldn't easily find it.

But now it is time to evaluate it. So I did. I unzipped my portfolio and pawed around the stack of paintings until I found it.

 Sometimes I'm pleased and sometimes I'm not. Today I am pleased with this piece of work--the contrasting color, the motif, and the mood. I remember the difficulties I had with it and how I overcame them.

I hope you all take a little time to slow down and evaluate your work before the second half of the year shifts into high gear.

Keep On Painting