Slowly does it

A beautiful sunny day sat in the garden this afternoon with a cup of coffee and reading The Artist. The introduction to an article by David Poxon called “Slowly does it” held my attention enough to want to read it again. He makes the point that many artists are preoccupied with the speed at which they can do a painting. People enquire how long did it take? He says “If like me you enjoy the physical, technical and emotional challenges of painting, why would you want to rush at it? Art should be a labour of love…” OK, so I’m happy to be a slow painter. Don’t have to make a living with it. I just enjoy thinking about what am I going to do, and then planning it: the media I shall use the size support and making a rough sketch of the scene. Next will come the hurry up bit – getting the drawing down and then painting. This is where it all slows up, some paint, cup of coffee, more paint, more coffee and so on. I may leave a painting for days (even months if it’s not going well) and start or return to something else. If it were possible to total up the hours then typically I guess that overall I may spend 20 to say 50 hours on one painting. It occurred to me that I just don’t know how long others may take. A demonstration at the club gets done it two well practiced hours. I may do a satisfying drawing in two hours or a simple pastel in a day. To me it is the pleasure, the creative enjoyment that is fundamental to what I am planning and painting. This is my motivation and time does not matter. Perhaps your time for painting, whether amateur or professional is so limited that you expect to complete within a certain time frame?

Hello NormandieFi and welcome to POL. Although I don't live in France I would just like what a lovely invitation to fellow painters. I am hoping to visit Ypres at the end of this year, work permitting :/ It would be great to meet up with artists across the channel for a day out painting. Keep posting NF, and keep your brushes busy :)