"BEAK GRAFFITI XII" Whimsical Raven Painting- Mixed Media on approx. 6 x 6 x 3/4 inch Cradle Artist's Wooden Panel

© Cristina Del Sol

Visit my Website to see all my Animal paintings.

 

Painting continues all around. It can be hang as-is, does not require glass or frame or can sit on a shelf on its own.

This painting was done with acrylics, acrylic Inks and oil pastels.

Bad Boy was really busy stamping, doing a few layers, sanding and removing paint to reveal previous layers. Is all about constructing and deconstructing.

Well, after taken time off during the festive season, preparing for my two shows and working on my two commissions, which were not done in my usual style, I felt my creativity was trapped somewhere.

I wanted to continue this "Beak Graffiti" series but with a new twist. Is good to leave your comfort zone to open new channels of creativity. So I decided to challenge myself.

Well... anxiety started to creep in. Could I get on the groove again? I did not see myself painting another lemon or pear. Not for a while! I will get back to still lifes sometime in the near future. You know that kind of security where you can almost "phone in" your art? Too comfortable. When you start to paint with too much confidence and things come up so easy, like piece work in a factory, that is the time you are settle in "your style" and no more passion shows in your work. That's one of the reasons I left "Daily Painters". You feel compelled to produce and post almost everyday not matter what. So quality can suffer. When I could not post at least three times a week, guilt set in, almost always. That is a creativity block for me.

To go into your studio every day alone wishing to create, trying to express an idea, exploring, experimenting and making sense of something so illusive as a feeling, or thought or emotion is a very humbling experience. Some days, or some moments it all seems to work and you enjoy the process with pure joy; then the next day or week, it is painful, extremely challenging and unsettling when nothing happens. You think: Where is all my experience and training gone?

This happens to every artist. They just don't express it in public.

I believe that just showing up and  having the determination to do the work, keeping at it, day after day, year after year is the main key.
There are no substitutes or short-cuts. You have to respect the process and put in the time in the studio. You have to just show up and do the work, accepting the fact you will always be, at the same time, an experienced artist, budding artist and blocked artist.

So...I am happy to be in the groove now!