The Painter

Sunset Reflected.
Approximately
4.75 x 10.5 inches.

I started "The Painter," by Peter Heller last week, which is about a violent, brooding, and reclusive artist with anger issues. You can read a review here.  One assessment from the reviewer struck me as very true--it's hard to read about a painter and the art he creates without wanting to see the art. The art sounds fabulously whimsical and interesting.  The protagonist is like someone I'd prefer not to meet. I'm fairly certain that I'm not going to finish the book.  For the most part, it's so.....angry.  But, when Heller talks about art, and the process, it's very interesting.  Here's a quote:

"Nobody, not even artists, understood art. What speed has to do with it.  How much work it takes, year after year, building the skills, the trust in the process, more work probably than any Olympic athlete ever puts in because it is twenty-four hours a day, even in dreams, and then when the skills and the trust are in place, the best work usually takes the least effort. Usually.  It comes fast, it comes without thought, it comes like a horse running you over at night. But. Even if people understand this, they don't understand that sometimes it is not like that at all.  Because the process has always been: craft, years and years; then faith; then letting go."

I love that.

I'm not under any illusions about my work.  I continue to plod away.  I should probably take a drawing class, and spend more time on the paintings.  But, for now, painting consistently, almost every day, is a huge step for me.

I've attached a painting from yesterday, Sunset Reflected, two blues, an orange-ish yellow, and a purple on 300 lb paper.  Enjoy.