5 Things I Learned From Taking A Year Off

Looking back 2017 was a rather interesting year. Cinder Block Studios as both a personal career and as a brand has gone through many changes. The largest of which was my big move into a new studio and living space. It was in late 2016 it was confirmed that I would be buying a place of my own so from the start I knew that I would be taking a break from art shows and market sales for a while, and honestly I’m really glad I did! In previous years I had built to doing about one show ever 5 or 6 weeks, with some overlap with long term exhibitions. It was an incredible high that I rode for a solid two years, but even after those two years started winding down I was starting to feel a little burnt out. I knew that I needed to step back and work on my art, and really think about my process and my products as a whole. I needed time to work on my skills, and not just be in constant promotion mode. So with the move underway by late February of 2017, I focused my energy toward straight production, and rebuilding new work habits in the new studio space.

Very quickly I was able to rediscover how much I really loved to work on new paintings. For much of 2016 and part of 2015, I had painted about half of my new inventory’s work of projects live at various shows. I do really enjoy the live painting experience, however it does involve me traveling with a limited set of colors and brushes, which often leads to some frustrating moments at these events. In addition to the limited tool set, my focus is also half in the painting and half on the show, which often hurts the quality of the work produced. So, having the time and tools I needed for a full year of paintings was such a welcomed relief. Focusing back on my own skill, technique, and style and forcing myself to push the limits of what I had made for myself in previous years was a truly rewarding experience.

Another thing I noticed was that the constant highs and lows I get from art shows are very tiring. It’s really easy to get into a slump of not wanting to work, so without the constant push to those extremes I could more easily created when I wasn’t feeling into it, and create really incredible stuff when I was!

As I mentioned already the need for constant promotion was a nice reprieve, however I would say that art marketing doesn’t stop when you’re not at shows, it merely changes. Rather than in person and one-on-one conversations with patrons, I found that the marketing concepts get broader to encompass a wider online audience. Granted I’ve been promoting my work online for years, but I did find that I was seeking out conversations online that I was used to having in person. In many ways that’s a good thing. It’s important to be able to talk to other artists about your work and theirs in a collaborative fashion. If you remain bottled up in the studio, and don’t take the time to go and talk with artists, then your work can very easily become stale. Filling your head with new ideas CAN be done online, but it shouldn’t be limited to doing so. With online interactions though I was faced with the challenge of bringing that level of interaction, engagement, and curiosity to the artist and fans of my work around the world.

A big change I made was also with my level of organization. Having the extra time on my hands away from shows let me rebuild and reorganize my inventory to make it both easier for me, and easier for others to browse through my art, and my video library. By doing show after show after show, I found that the amount of “new” work I had for each show was very small. For the few shows I did do, however, I was able to collect dozens of new works (and a few old ones) to create a much more compelling presentation. Going forward in 2018 I think it will be important to pick and choose shows in order to keep my production up, my skills sharp, and my joy of the creating process alive and thriving.

So yeah it’s been a busy past year, and I found that more than anything life gets in the way. A lot! So it really is about how much you want it. Art that is. How much do you want to make stuff? If the desire is strong enough you’ll find the time. That thought is actually what made me want to take art more seriously in college. I had less time in college than I did in high school so I had to really plan on when I painted. Now it’s the same challenge over again. Live is busy. My day job, my home, and my day to day needs keep me VERY busy, so when I paint I can escape from those things into new and unique worlds. It’s my hope that this idea of “escapism” is what my art conveys to all of you. We all have stuff we deal with everyday, so why not take at least a few minutes and escape into a fantasy world!

What about you guys? How did you grow in 2017? And what will you plan for this year (2018) to take your work to the next level?

The Pigment Database...

The Pigment Database and What I’ve learned about Hues

The more I paint and buy new paint tubes, bottles, and jars the more I have pushed to learn about paint as a whole. A number of years ago I was exploring the binders of each paint, and understanding the key differences between oils, acrylics, and watercolors. However, in recent years I have pushed to understand pigments in a more complex manner. One thing that many artists are aware of is the difference between a pure pigment paint and a “hue.” Hues are a single or multiple pigment used to replicate another pigment (such as sap green, cerulean blue, or alizarin crimson). Many hue colors, especially in acrylics, are designed to replicate a historical pigment without having the drawbacks of fugitive (or non-lightfast) colors. Artists want their paints to last and not fade over time in most cases. There are also parts of the world where certain colors are simply unavailable as they use heavy metals in their formula, the cadmiums and the cobalts are to blame here. Needless to say though many artists will chase after single pigment paints for their superior mixing capabilities and consistency across brands. It is in this brand to brand difference that learning exactly which pigments are in use in your paint becomes both cost effective for the artist as well as vital to the process when you start crossing viscosities and color lines.

So, in learning to research my colors more effectively I came across “The Pigment Database,” an online tool for cross referencing pigments, with color names, and common brands. Since discovering the database it has easily become one of my biggest companions in my weekly studio use as well as a shopping guide for future purchases.

Aside from its use in my purchases, it has also allowed me to slowly become familiar with reading the pigment codes on not just paint tubes, but on ink, markers, pastels, and a variety of other supplies. Being able to recognize color across brands, materials, and specific names I’m able to more accurately and effectively utilize color in creating different types of art.  Of course I do relate every pigment back to my acrylic colors as that is the medium I’m most familiar with, but even in doing so my understanding of each color and how it changes between medium has deepened immensely.

For a long time I also viewed a “hue” color to be inferior to a pure pigment color, and it wasn’t until the pigment database came into my workflow that I really started to change that opinion. Many artists (and I think very falsely so) see mixed pigment paints as lesser, when really it’s about the usage and skill level of each individual artist. Many hues are used in low end student grade colors which use not only a mix of pigments, but less pigment in general. These lesser paints will often have varying consistency levels, and leave paint mixes on your canvas to seem dull or washed out. However, professional tools don’t have this problem and this includes hue colors in these high end lines. Golden Acrylics’ historical colors are a great example of this. I’ve added a number of these colors to my palette in the past few years including Indian Yellow Hue and Smalt Hue. The original versions of these colors (at that time in oil paints) were not only single pigment colors, but known to be fugitive (colors that fade over time). Many of the modern mixed pigment substitutes  are much better than many artists think. While yes a color (like alizarin crimson) might mix a little different than it’s traditional counterpart, it will have a great color retention in the extended short term exposure in a gallery setting.

The one exception I’ve found to the hues would be the cadmium substitutes. These colors often have a drastically different mixing capability and are often only used by artists on a budget. However this also is in the process of changing. Liquitex recently announced a line of “cadmium free” substitutes for artists that retain the brilliant color of the regular cadmium colors without the need for the more toxic heavy metal pigment. In blind studies it has been running circles around the traditional colors, however I personally am more skeptical. For obvious reasons they are keeping their formulation under a hat for now, which leaves artists like me at an impasse. For an artist like myself who understands not just paint names but also pigments, I find it exceedingly frustrating to not be able to see the pigment codes for these paints. For a professional line of paint to not show the pigments used I feel isn’t useful to me at all. For some regions where cadmium pigments are unavailable the colors certainly have a lot to offer, but not knowing in advance if they are simple rebranded single pigments, or new hue variants I can say that waiting to try the colors would be in any artist’s best interest. I by no means want to criminalize Liquitex. I love their products, but I feel the omission of the pigment information is a misstep.

Ok, so ranting about brands aside let’s get back to the point. The Pigment Database is a wonderful resource for artists of any level. It has taught me a ton about paint, color, and where to draw the line with certain names. There’s still a lot to learn as well. As I continue to grow as an artist I’ll keep referencing the database to expand my color palette and push the limits of just what I can do with color!

What are your thoughts on this topic? Have you been to the pigment database? If not, will you and how will you use it in your own process?