The painting a day movement

There is a recent art phenomenon called the painting a day movement. I believe it was started by Richmond artist Duane Keiser. Currently you can find hundreds of painting a day blogs and hundreds of ebay listings of small sized paintings by these artists. Most of the works portray photorealistic small everyday objects, mini still lifes of everything from old bottles to wrapped candies.

I have browsed many of these blog sites and would say that about half are really good, meaning either in technical achievement and creative expression. Neil Hollingsworth is one of the best. It is difficult to make a mundane object in such a small format powerful, yet he does it so well.

It seems that many of these artists jump on board because they want a disciplined way of making work. Most are not full time painters and struggle to find time to paint, so producing a post card size work daily makes creating doable. They have realized that size is not everything.

My issue with these works is that they are mostly void of any creative juice. I’ve said this before of photrealism. If I look at a painting and I am impressed with how much it looks like a photo I usually come away feeling a bit empty. I might even venture to call this sort of painting a craft instead of an art. Eventually for me they lose their staying power.

Today's painting

I am getting a bit faster..improving my brushwork. This took me about 2 1/2 hours on a 8 x 10 canvas. When I started painting cupcakes it took about 2 hours to complete a 6 x 6 canvas.

There are still a few things to do. Not sure if I want any more detail in the cookie, though...

SOLD

Food painting: Krispy Kreme Doughnut Stack

SOLD

I have become rather interested in food paintings lately. Though not a fan of photo realism I have found painting these to be an excellent, and sometimes frustrating exercise in seeing light. I always try to put a creative spin on them and do not directly copy the set up. Direct copying often causes my creative muscle to atrophy. I am feeling a little of that now as I focus on the ebay paintings more these days.

Born again painter

There has been a shift in me this year that has brought a new mindset and vision about painting. After my artistic crisis last december that cast me into utter dependence on God and in which I completely quit painting, I have had a virtual "born again" artistic experience. And let me pause to give credit where credit is due: the glory belongs to God.

I have learned to do the next right thing and not to take on the whole outcome. To stop overanalyzing and live in the brushstroke. Pretty amazing for me. Those of you who know my intensity get it and I am sure it is a welcome change for you, as well.

Now to balance small works with larger more challenging works. I still differentiate between the artistis value of the two. I average about two sales a week, so the pressure to produce at times overwhelms, yet even today I feel the kick of a new "serious" painting idea or two.
"Ryner Girls"