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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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I get bored very quickly and soon loose concentration, over my lifetime I’ve learned to have several books on the go once sometimes four at least . When I paint if I’m not careful I start to fiddle around just to make it more interesting but obviously it doesn’t always work out , I was explaining to a friend that  it’s not unusual for me to have three or more paintings on the go at once . He thought I was absolutely mad , however I have noticed over the years and particularly of late that I spend longer painting because I swap between the different ones I’m working on . Interestingly it was first pointed out to me quite a long while ago whist have assessments for dyslexia that I focus better when concentrated on a couple of things at the same time.  I do wonder if other have a similar strategy or am I really such a odd ball as I’ve been told . Some of the paintings I have on the go at the moment, all in different stages . 

Tanja G.

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oh very intressant Dixie! I'm similar with different hobbies: painting, digital work, knitting, mosaics, I switch back and forth, otherwise I also get bored. I can only speak of myself, I need this "variety" to give my brain again and again a new input, a new stimulus, where I can approach a fresh and unspent thing. If I "chew" on something for too long - it becomes tough and fibrous.
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Lewis Cooper

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Yes very interesting Dixie.  I seldom have three or four pictures 'on the go', but the norm for me is to have two in progress...and, of course, I'm thinking about other pictures I want to make.  The picture I'm 'thinking' of making is always more interesting than the ones I'm actually working on.  When I start a picture I want to crack on and get them done...how I envy those artists who spend weeks and months on one painting.  If I leave something for a week, it won't get finished, because my interest evaporates.  It's not a question of time, I'm retired, my wife's too ill for us to do much, so there's always time to draw and paint.  But events can sometimes kill  the mood to do art. I've had a dry spell recently and needed to shake myself out of it.  I like groups of pictures and thought I'd do four portraits...not REAL portraits...just characters I've made up.  So I've started that...here's one I've done...a nautical type... While I'm waiting for paint to dry, I started some simple pen and ink drawings...real ink and dip pens...so I need to let those dry too.  So I'm switching between these two concepts. I do struggle to maintain interest...a grasshopper mind I guess...here's one I lost interest in...I may return to this, by which I mean start a completely NEW version. I'm impressed that you can keep four on the boil.  I always seem to be rushing to finish things.  Always have been.  There's never any reason to rush.  I'm unlikely to change anytime soon. We all do things our own way.

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by Lewis Cooper

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Helen Martell

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I’m like you, Paul, always got several on the go at any time, but also like Lewis in that if a painting gets put to one side for too long it might never get finished… and then become more of a chore than a pleasure if I do have to finish it.  I’ve got an art show in October, which I do every year (with 9 other artists), and whilst I can put in whatever I like, all of them have to be ‘new’ to that show. I have to bring 10, have completed 4, and have another 4 in various stages of progress, one which I started last December I think! Plus another 2 yet to think about 😅😳
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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Interesting - what do I do..... sit around a lot, looking out of the window and wishing my landlady's dogs would shut up for a minute; but apart from that I....... deep breath: cook; watch old films; read books; do a bit of journalism; paint in oil, or watercolour, or gouache, or acrylic; draw in ink, carbon pencil, charcoal, conté crayon, graphite; I don't know that I have different paintings on the go, though sometimes I have, but I've also got sketches going on; I do a bit of politics still - I'm not an agent any more (and am hoping no one asks me to run elections again, I've done it too often, over far too many years - 50, since you ask as didn't....); I would walk, if it'd stop raining; listen to music; play chess against computers; and in recent years, thanks to increasing age, I drop off to sleep in the middle of the day if I haven't got a project going on; so I need to have a project going on... It's not a hyperactive life by a very long way, but I think the only things I'm really missing are congenial company - sometimes: not often - no one has ever accused me of being sociable; and ..... well; I don't know that I do miss anything else, or at least not anything else that I could actually do in these, my, er, afternoon years....  Painting is important though; and drawing - without those, I would get depressed and take a fresh turn to the demon drink.  
our Lady2

Jim Morris

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I'm a moderator on a football site and contribute  columns on a couple of other internet forums, dance, general banter and this one. My paintings, sketches etc are usually done on the spot and rarely left off as I work very quickly. Learning is my main hobby in a wide range of subjects including literature and selected poetry, mainly rhyming and I love a wide range of music. Eldest daughter and a granddaughter both paint. I'm also a religious Christian, believe in self meditation and the power of prayer. I know all Jane Austen's six major novels inside out and can quote quite a few of Omar Khayam's quatrains from the Rubaiyat by heart. That's it..(-:

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by Jim Morris

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Peter Smith

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Interesting! I can't work like that, when I start a picture I have to keep at it until I'm happy with it although I may well then go back to it days or even weeks later if it needs altering.  Going to beer festivals keeps my brain active (!) plus building model railways and quizzing.   We're all different, that's what makes a forum like this so fascinating. I'm an atheist but it doesn't stop me enjoying Jim's pictures.  

Sylvia Evans

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Quick ,quick, quick  that's me ...I couldn't  work several at a time I'm just not made that way.   Idea for pic...go paint it....hide it for a week approve or junk it.    If it's a "serious painting"  I take a while and think about it.  Interesting...

Denise Cat

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I draw and sketch continually but might only have one or two paintings on the go which get the main attention and focus. You are going great guns there Paul.
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Lynda Green

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I always intend to work on two paintings at once in order to allow drying time.  Unfortunately it never quite works out that way.  Once I’m in the zone I have to finish what I am working on.  Luckily my husband can cook or he might never eat :-)
Entwined, abstract

Sandra Kennedy

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My goodness, you are all so talented! Like Dixie I tend to have at least 2 and likely more books on the go at once, unless I get "hooked" in which case I can't stop reading until the book is finished. I like your works on the go Dixie. Lew - Captain Haddock?  I usually used to have 2 paintings on the go at once when I was painting, allows for drying time. Trying to get back so have a couple in various stages, doubt whether good enough to post. We'll see. Robert, what a marvellous range of interests and skills, leaves me speechless!

Tessa Gwynne

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I mostly concentrate on one painting at a time. A few years ago when going to a weekly class in addition to our normal art group, I found myself with two on the go at once. I don’t have a studio as such, only a small bedroom to paint in, and so not sufficient space for three or four on the go at once! Different reasons for our painting set up. Perhaps the time you have available for painting plays a part also. I find myself slower completing work than I used to be, so if I had four on the go I would probably never finish one! I just read an article in The Artist by Bob Brandt who always has 4 on the go and knows someone who works on 20 at any time! Apparently Turner used to have a large number of watercolours set up and would work on them all.  Presumably one uses the same palette for those paintings And I know it’s the norm for many artists. Another interesting topic.

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by Tessa Gwynne