3 paintings finished same day ©Felipe Adan Lerma – New Hat, Titan Green Pale Impressionist Abstract 1, Burnt Sienna Impressionist Abstract 1 : Feb 2022

I’ve come across many varied and sometimes surprising mentions of the value of starting many paintings —

• let my inspiration sing!! ie, pour out as it appears and thus not lose the beginning of an idea
• release the pressure to perfect and finish any one work & get stuck
• allow time for paint to dry
• allow my eyes to have time to see a started work new
• give a paintings in a series time to evolve together creating cohesiveness
• let paintings in a series begin to influence each other with newly discovered “goodies” in any one work
• give a series a better chance of evolving to a finish
• not let myself get bogged down or discourage about any one work – it can sit, and wait for my creative self to be ready for it when I sense the need or answer how to evolve or finish it
• Plus, contributed by Aprille in the comments – “One more I’d add for myself personally is that having multiple pieces on the go eliminates that inertia I struggle with when I find myself between paintings” — good one, esp when “looking” for something to dab on when short on time or, as Aprille says, looking for a way out of one’s inertia, one of the 2 constant forces in our universe it seems, lol!

Other ideas I’ve read are also along the one or more of the above ideas, one of which, not letting any one work become what several writers / artists have called, a work too “precious” to let rest, then over-working it, took me until very recently to get a beginning handle on.

But one idea I haven’t read much of, as a benefit of beginning many works and working them as them appeal or draw me back to them, is that it’s fun 😊

I can flit from one work to another, one style of works to different style, begin something entirely new, and am finding it usually will also either fit into an existing series, or look very good for the start of a brand new series. Eventually of course finally finishing some paintings, lol!

How and why I feel these 3 are complete, is my surer and surer feeling I want ( need? ) my work to be interesting both from a mid to far distance, and up-close. All three have been great to explore up close, right from the first pass throughs. Getting them attractive mid to far distance, that’s taken me some doing! But definitely becoming part of the fun!

Above, the two color field abstract panoramas are already part of a series, including two works I recently had accepted at a show at Art for the People Gallery here in Austin.

The other, the vertical figure work, New Hat, though one of many figure works I’ve explored and painted just the last few years, could well represent one of those latter new ideas benefitting from starting lots of new works – beginning a new series.

New how?

New Hat does combine an acrylic background with a watercolor figure; plus a large-in-the-frame figure with a varied abstracted background, but what is new is how extensively the figure is literally shaped with molding paste. How exactly this may evolve I’m not sure yet – but I definitely want to find out 😊 ❤️

*

Meanwhile, here in Austin, we’re hoping to have drinkable water sooner rather than later this week, even with the hot water at our place being turned off mid-week for a boiler repair, lol!

Stay well everyone! 🙏

Adan

ps – as mentioned, the 3 paintings presented top of the post are finally finished – I plan separate posts for each as I get better shots of them, with some along-the-way progress pics to show how they changed; plus, no surprise, I have several more of the panoramic color field textured abstracts also in-progress; and at least two more large-in-frame figure works against an abstract background, though the backgrounds are quite different each-to-each right now; we’ll see which abstract style background might morph into a series type of its own ☺️ 👩‍🎨 🎨

My Related Posts Here On My Blog

My Related Amazon Affiliate Search Products
https://www.amazon.com/shop/felipeadanlerma

My Latest Posts On My Website!

• May 17, 2022 – I Have a Lot of Happenings ( art & personal ) This Week, But Still Finding Moments To Start a New Painting : Morning’s PromiseMay 17, 2022
  It’s nice to dance the surface of my canvas as needed. And able ☺️ And right now, a light step, at an easy pace, may give me the time – and energy – to get more than a handful of other needed things also done this week. Not a bad compromise. For now 😊
• May 16, 2022 – New Diptych : “Freedom” Almost Finished, Panels Need Signing ( front & back )May 16, 2022
  And what I’ve come across figuring out how to make prints of this that folks can work with, ie, close to or within standard size dimensions, was how to get a 22×28 image convert into – in 2 examples – an 8×10 or 12×18, and I came up with this as a starting prototype….
• May 15, 2022 – My Most Viewed Image this Past Week @FineArtAmerica, “Spring Rising”May 15, 2022
  I’d done a lot of deep or darker night-like paintings for a bit, so it felt pretty nice to lighten up my palette for awhile. Working back & forth, from the two approaches – playing the potential good from both approaches seems to suit my Libra middle, lol!
• May 14, 2022 – My 1st Classical Stretch Workout with Miranda Esmonde-White ( via YouTube ) in Many Months!May 14, 2022
  Though similar to SilverSneakers’ classes, Miranda’s classes focus largely on making the fascia network in our bodies more fluid. Some movements are very similar, but more extended, dance-like, reflecting Miranda’s ballerina and dance background!
• May 13, 2022 – “Angel” in AVAA’s 1st Austin Art Space Gallery and Studio Group Show in a Long Time!May 13, 2022
  Just a very quick post to announce that my 18×24 inch acrylic on stretched canvas, Angel – has been accepted into Austin Visual Arts Association’s ( AVAA) 1st group show since ( I believe ) the pandemic. Definitely been a long time coming and feels great to be able to be showing with this long time Austin art association again! 😊
• May 12, 2022 – Updated My #Twitter Header Image and Pinned TweetMay 12, 2022
  Though Twitter’s future is up in the air, or ether, or virtual landscape; and my own “footprint” there and social media in general is micro-whatever, lol! — it’s still my micro existence, and I want to care for it best I can 😊
• May 11, 2022 – Reblog / Review : Joan Mitchell, “I carry my landscapes around with me” – #PolyptychsMay 11, 2022
  …my reading of Joan Mitchell’s work – while often including much of that same connection, speaks more directly to me about the impact of the canvas before me in that process. Especially most specifically in regard to Joan’s work with multi-panel / multi-canvas works of art – ie, polyptychs!

*
Thanks again, everyone! 😊

Adan

Twitter / Instagram / FB @FelipeAdanLerma
Amazon Author Page – https://amzn.to/2YpgyUf
Fine Art America (FAA, Pixels) – https://felipeadan-lerma.pixels.com/