I won’t lie: I have really enjoyed the “30 Paintings in 30 Days” challenge (even if I’ve only done about half of it. I was a late beginner, after all). It was a fantastic opportunity to force myself to get comfortable with paint, as quickly as possible.
And it worked! Already, I can see a huge improvement in my painting over the last few weeks, and most of that can be attributed to the fact that the more confident I felt, the more I was willing to push myself. Heck, I even tried my hand at oil painting (shocker!), and not only did my studio NOT spontaneously combust, but I also managed to churn out some pretty decent work. High-fives all around!
BUT… there is one problem: all of the work I’ve done so far has been reproductions of images I’ve found on the internet. To be fair, I never claimed that they were original images, and have always been careful to title them as “studies”, but still my conscience is not clear. Someone else took the time to hire the model, the hairdresser and makeup artist, set up the lighting, rent the studio, develop the art direction, etc, etc. I didn’t have anything to do with any of that. All I did was say “Wow, I’d love to try painting that”, and then proceeded to do so. Most of the artistic decisions were made by someone else. In a way, this is just another variant of Fan Art, and I’ve already gone on at length about my problematic relationship with it.
Which means we’re right back at Square One: if I want to make completely original work, I need to photograph my own models. I don’t have the monetary funds for that, so the next best thing is to cobble together a few choice images and hope that the result is harmonious (or at least, a mostly harmless Franken-picture, if you will). Behold my first try (see above)!
And here’s where the fears and doubts come crashing in because now I’m the one making the artistic decisions. My mind is constantly second-guessing, oh, just about everything, and I’m having a lot less fun. I’m even dredging up some serious existential garbage from my subconscious, wondering “Is this what it means to be an artist? Because, quite frankly, I don’t know if I have the strength of character to pull off a lifetime of these insecurities!” Honestly, how does Rose Miller of Wolfgang and Rose make it look so easy?
Just so we’re clear, I may have a few more meltdowns before this picture is done, but I promise to give it my best shot!
EMMA PITTSON 