A New Year, Painting the Same Old Stuff

Here it is 2015 and I am painting the same old things. That's what I would tell myself if I were not an optimist. But I am an optimist, so this year I will paint bigger and better paintings. If they are not better, they will certainly be more thoughtful and more thoughtfully composed. So even if I paint the same "stuff" I painted last year this year it will be arranged better, which will result in a better painting. Readers might think that this resolution is too easy to achieve. Why not resolve to paint one painting a day for thirty days, or even sixty days. We all know there are plenty of artists out there doing that. I am beyond the place where I need to challenge myself to paint. I don't need any incentives because I already enjoy the process. I also have a tendency to speed through projects a bit too quickly so the last thing I need to do is a thirty day challenge.

So my resolution this year is to look twice and make one stroke. Consider the possibilities before jumping in. Mark out my compositions in a linear fashion prior to pushing the paint onto canvas. In other words, I'll be a more intentional painter. Hopefully this will translate into becoming a better one. That's my goal anyway and I think goals are a necessary part of improving.

We also purchased a Sole 80 for ourselves this year so another goal will be getting into really good shape and running a 5K next October.

So here is my first painting of 2015. It is another still life and it does include things I have painted before. But hopefully the arrangement is more interesting than what I might have done previously and  maybe I have paid more attention to the edges than I have in the past.

Happy New Years and good luck with those resolutions!