What is my process like?

What is my Process Like?

My process depends on what I am working on. Some art may look better as a pastel, some in oil and some in acrylic, and still some just as a pencil drawing. Reconnaissance is my first step a lot of the time. What is my process like? I spend hours and hours taking pictures and traveling to destinations getting inspiration. This helps to motivate me. Sometimes I think I cannot improve on a great picture, but collect it also for a composition or a rainy day, in that respect all my pictures are very important. They are like a library of ideas and inspiration.

Freedom

You can lose a certain kind of freedom and movement in a piece if I was to just paint from a picture, so this is important to remember. I try to catch a feeling or express my sense of a moment, place or thing. I am not sure that someone will feel the same way I do, but I would be happy if they feel something when looking at my work. Remembering this I try not to just record what I see, I feel the camera is a tool for that.

When I sketch, I do use either my iPad or paper and charcoal, pastel or pencil to plan a composition. Even while doing a plein air project I sketch a plan before painting. I look for the different values and appropriate composition. Sometimes I still do miss the mark, not every work comes out they way I wish, especially while experimenting and creating.

Always be prepared

I always carry sunscreen, water, a hat, bug spray, wipes, paper towels and small plastic garbage bags to my en plein air sessions. This may seem like a lot but it makes a huge difference in having a good time or being miserable. Spending generally 4 hours or more just painting, I think is a good amount of time. It can be extremely hot or cold and windy, the weather changes as well as the light. After 4 to 5 hours I can get pretty tired. Sometimes I can finish a piece at my studio if it needs it, being careful not to loose that sense of place or time and emotion.

Explore

I am always exploring different compositions, media and colors and love it. My oil paintings go in stages, an under painting first then a layer of paint over that and another layer. I will use as many layers as I need to complete the painting. It sometimes depends on if I want to do impasto too. Always keeping in mind the fat over thin mantra. Letting them dry a year before I decide if I want to varnish or not, is sometimes a pain. Putting away a work out of sight for a while is also helpful.

I will spend half my day doing paperwork, improving my website or other social endeavors. The other half doing promotion for my website and other stores like https://www.redbubble.com/people/Jacyncas this depends also on what paintings I am working on. I always keep in mind something one of my friends told me, “If it ain’t fun, we may not want to do it.”

Am I Traveling for my Art?

Am I Traveling for My Art?

Am I traveling for my art? I would love to travel more than I do. I try to get out on a continuous basis, especially during the golden hours. If you were not aware, the golden hours are the hours around sunrise and sunset. That time of day is great for capturing awesome photos. It would be difficult to do any plein air work because of the short time period. That may be quite a challenge, but probably a good exercise to try to get that light in a quick painting.

Travel Locally, Travel Abroad

I do have opportunities to travel all over New England. Wherever I go I plan to take some art supplies with me like sketchbooks, chalk, a limited palette, camera and desire to learn and explore. I have gone to Florida, Texas and all points in between. I would love to travel more, but unfortunately my finances don’t allow me that luxury. It is also hard to travel with oil paintings as they are wet for so long. I am very tempted to try using acrylics with maybe an extender in them, so they do not dry out as fast.

Be in the Moment

We have gone camping, hiking and sightseeing  in many places. I love nature. We often go to museums, art shows and galleries when we travel, there is great inspiration at these places. I would urge you to go to as many of those places as you can. I find things constantly in my journeys so fascinating I want to stop everywhere. I could only imagine what it would be like if I could afford to go to so many of those awesome places out there that I have not explored.

For now I will be content with where I am and exploring not only what is around me, but what is also inside me.