Eva im Bad VI, Pastell,
2010 © Astrid Volquardsen
To all my readers, I wish you a happy new year and all the best for 2011.
It was really interesting to see all the different feedback I got for the last Eva post, because I wasn’t happy with the hands.
So here are some thoughts that came to me.
First,the spectator doesn’t necessarily dislike a certain part in your painting, but the painter himself certainly does. Maybe he or she recognizes it, but it doesn’t do any harm to the general liking.
So this leeds to an important rule, when exhibiting. Never, ever mention, that you don’t like your own pictures or parts of it.
What’s the reason, why artist sometimes have problems to like their own paintings and seem to be dissatisfied with them?
I got a new idea from Daniel Coyles book »The talent code«. He has the theory, that there aren’t special people born with a talent, but that it comes down to put in the hours to become a master. (Take any field you like). It is a combination of putting in 10.000 hours, having good teachers and most importantly to stay in an active learning zone. It is this active learning zone, where our dissasisfaction often derives from. You are setting a goal, try to get there, see the difference,between your goal and what you achieved and you start all over again. Concerning the faces people make when they are in this zone, it doesn’t seem to be a comfy place.
No, it is not always a comfy zone, but a place where it is worthwhile staying in, because you can often feel, how you are moving forward, even though you feel bad about certain parts of your painting.
Because it is new year and don’t we all like new year resolutions, here are some of mine.
- Drawing hands on a regular basis (geometrical forms only)
- Study other painters and how they managed their hands.
- Painting hands in pastel with a very limited color range.
the art of the dance is like chocolate
you are magnificent!
Karin Goeppert
Liebe Astrid! A very happy new year!
Toll, was Du uns da geschrieben hast. Es stimmt, die aktive Lernphase ist oft mehr als ungemütlich. Ich muss mal nach dem Buch gucken, hört sich sehr interessant an. Vielen Dank für den Tip.
Astrid Volquardsen
Thanks Myra, that is very kind of you.
Hallo Karin,
a very happy new year as well.
Das Buch ist wirklich sehr interessant und ich kann es eigentlich jedem nur empfehlen mal zu lesen, egal aus welcher Profession er kommt. Ansonsten gilt der schöe Satz: There is no shortcut to the place that is truly worthwhile being at.
Anonymous
Hallo liebe Astrid,
Herzlichen Dank für Deinen sehr interessanten Beitrag.
Ich finde es auch sehr wichtig, den Lernprozess entsprechend zu gestalten.
In einem ähnlich interessanten Artikel habe ich mal gelesen"..daß es das ausgeprägte Talent eigentlich garnicht gibt, sondern alles eine eine Sache der Übung und des Lernens ist…..
Danke auch für Deinen Tipp mit Zielsetzung die aktive Lernzone weiter zu puschen.
Liebe Grüße Sonja
Astrid Volquardsen
HAllo Sonja,
danke fürs Vorbeischauen.
Wie sagte mal jemand anderes:
Kunst ist 10% Inspiration und 90% Transpiration.
Sarah Bachhuber Peroutka
I read on another artist's blog that when someone expresses admiration for our painting and we (the artist) say, "oh, well, this part isn't very good," or "I had such difficulty with…" what we are communicating to the viewer is "You do not have good taste or you would see that." When a viewer likes our painting, we should say, "Thank you!"
Astrid Volquardsen
Hi Sarah,
thanks for dropping by.
Yes, you are right and you mentioned the perfect response, if somebody likes your picture.
hmuxo
Your paintings are absolutely beautiful and your posts are so interesting! I hope to see more of your paintings soon.
Jane
Astrid, really like your work, you are very talented.
Cobalt Violet
Gorgeous! So inspiring!