The Confident Artist
“City Drizzle”
Acrylic on canvas | 30 cm x 30 cm
Now at Artworx Gallery (check online gallery for updated sale history)
Confidence plays a big part in being successful in any pursuit. It is no different for an artist too.
An artist can produce a painting that stands out in a crowd because of the confident way they have tackled the process. The reason is, is that the finished product also shows this confidence and because of this it becomes attractive to viewers.
The difference between a work that has been laboured over and one that has been put together with an air of confidence is quite apparent. The one that took hundreds of hours may be an accomplishment of patience and skill, but the quicker confident painting has a feeling of life and energy. The flow of a confident artist is clearly visible and translates into a something that others can feel.
With the advent of impressionism in the 19th century, it has given every artist permission to deviate from copying exactly what is there and produce creative pieces using different colour schemes and changing the composition if needed. Of course, not everyone is attracted to working in this manner, but it is certainly wrong to think that the longer a painting takes to produce automatically makes it better or more attractive than something that has been put together in several hours.
Producing facsimiles of photographs with paint is becoming more popular, but while the finished product may look impressive, it does not always project an artist’s confidence in their craft, despite the many hard-hours of copying, colour-matching and minute brush strokes.
One of the main differences in a confident artist, is that they work the canvas as whole and not one square centimetre at a time. This has the effect of creating a work that comes together as a whole and the final touches to make everything gel can come together in the last hour or so.
How does confidence become a part of an artist way of life? There is no easy way, and it takes time. Like any skill, it takes time and practice. While we may be tempted to just paint anything that comes up, it is an advantage to concentrate on one thing or subject, at least when we start off. It’s the way to gain confidence quicker – repetition of subject doesn’t have to be boring because there are so many ways one subject can be handled. What it does do, is give you confidence in one thing and that will eventually translate into other subjects we paint.
In short, confidence comes from learning and doing – not by learning by itself. No one ever became good at something by just being at school. Learning by doing is the best way to advance in anything and art is no different.
There is no greater power in a painting than an artist that can project their skill and confidence in a finished work and its there to be seen in almost any gallery.
By Mike Barr
April 2024