… some of my best work is in my sketchbook…

Every painting starts with an idea…and they’re all good.  Unfortunately, not every idea or every painting ends well.  I have a pile of trash art in my studio, paintings on the back of other paintings, paintings with big sections cropped out and those that remain unfinished.  Most paintings just don’t make it for whatever reason…overworked, wrong perspective, poor color or value choices… but most times its because I failed to develop the initial concept in enough detail to make it a success.  But on the other side of that argument (and I argue with myself a lot) some of “my” masterpieces are small quick sketches and paintings in my sketch book.  They’re alive…not because they’re my best execution of technique but because they have a special place in my time….when and where they were painted, who was there, the “feel” of the moment.  Sometimes that feel, that emotion hits the paper. 

Many times its’s not in the painting that makes it special for me…mostly the memory of one person close by quietly observing, never criticizing, never changing the course of the work but with a critical eye acknowledging every little success.  My sketchbooks are filled with doodles, notes, instructions and quotes from my mentors and random thoughts about the moment.  Many of the better efforts do eventually evolve into finished works on a grander scale but those first little paintings hold the emotion.

I used to think when I started a sketch for a painting that “this painting will be a masterpiece, someone’s gonna love it and buy it”…now I’m thinking of feelings…emotions and getting it on the paper.  Andrew Wyeth once said “Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing – then a work of art may happen.”  I think it happens more in my sketch books….here’s a few, enjoy.