In the past, I have written about my inspiration and I want to add to it. In 2021 I spent a lot of time developing my business, including building the website, finding the right print-on-demand service, and learning about online marketing. I found that I spent too much of my time on the business and very little on painting.
To add to the situation, I began a larger-than-usual painting. There are a lot of areas of intense detail throughout the piece. Typically, a lot of detail is a signature for my work, but a lot of the detail is lettering.
I have a love/hate relationship with type! Anyone who took an illustration class with me knows how picky I am about handmade text. I would warn students if their final illustration had poorly created handwritten text, they could expect a lower grade on the project. And, for the sake of total transparency, those same students would tell you, and rightly so, that my handwriting is horrible!
I love the look of lettering, signs, and graffiti (especially the lettering). As I’m not particularly good at creating handwritten type, I must work twice as hard to develop acceptable lettering.
As a result of spending so much time on the business, I began losing interest in completing the painting. That doesn’t often happen to me when I have committed to painting. Don’t get me wrong, when I was much younger; I occasionally lost interest in completing a piece before I learned to refine my concept art. But the last time I recall feeling that way was over twenty years ago.
When students approached me with a similar issue, I would advise completing the piece, letting it sit for a month or so (or however long it takes to no longer feel attached to it), then giving the work an honest assessment. If the work is still unresolved, create a new piece with revisions, making it part of a series.
The bottom line is the painting, Crown Point Vintage, is done! I completed it, and happy with the results. It is part of a series of paintings of antiques, collectibles, and thrift stores.