Thursday, April 19, 2012

After July, Reboot 3

When I finish a piece in a certain style, and then really love it, I tend to keep it by itself and never repeat it, moving on to newer styles I'd like to try. It might be the fear of failure, that future pieces will never be as good. Unfortunately that doesn't allow for a body of work viewers can say is mine, or so I imagine. Fortunately, I have a tendency to paint the same way, with daubs of color that look haphazard and somewhat natural, despite being digital. This is one of my favorite styles I've done in recent history, and it seems to be popular as well on Facebook judging from the comments. And I've decided to revisit it for this portrait.

I can see equal parts movie poster painting (Filipinos will recall the giant painted movie posters that touted upcoming releases all over the streets of Manila, each poster painstakingly hand painted by artists), as well as what I remember from a paper doll book on weddings that I brought home from my father's supermarket. No one else knows this, and they probably thought I was being the effeminate gay child wanting a bridal paper doll, but what I remember from it, several decades later, was the painting style that seemed to be either acrylic or gouache, and its highly realized technique has influenced my work all my life. I wish I kept it, but that would have seemed too weird for a kid who was probably all of 9 or 10 years old.

2 comments:

Joanie said...

I totally understand walking away from a style or even a piece of work fearing I may ruin it. Sometimes it takes more courage than I possess to finish something. You, however, seem to finish more than I could ever hope to accomplish.

George G said...

Funny how I don't think I finish anywhere near enough... although it seems I'm always making something new so I always have stuff on the backburner that needs resolving. Granted, I do finish quite a bit even if it takes over a decade (which some have - like that drag queen watercolor I did on 11/11/11), but mayhap I set unreasonably high goals for myself. Or maybe I compare myself too much to artists who draw for a living, as opposed to myself, who works as an art director who happens to also illustrate.