GIVE UP TO GAIN
My latest “Live Paint” demo created on the streets of San Luis Obispo during Art After Dark. 40”x 30”. Acrylic, charcoal, collage and conte crayon on paper. © 2017 David Limrite
“In the old days, pictures advanced toward their completion by stages. Every day brought something new. A picture used to be a sum of additions. In my case, a picture is a sum of destructions. I make a picture - then I destroy it.”
Pablo Picasso
Give Up To Gain
Are you willing to give up something in order to gain something else?
I recently asked myself this question, and I am so glad I allowed myself to say YES.
In my current work, I have been exploring the idea of representation vs abstraction. And, in order for me to get my paintings to where I think I want them to be, I had to make a conscious effort to give up creating recognizable images. And, in order to do that, I had to cultivate, and then court, “chaos”. That is, I had to allow myself to be out of control in front of the easel.
Pursuing chaos has been very difficult for me. I have had to learn how to be spontaneous and impulsive. And, I have had to practice, practice, practice.
But giving up creating representational figures has been the most difficult thing of all about this process. However, if I am really serious about moving my creativity forward, something had to be sacrificed. I had to give “something” up. And, that “something” was creating recognizable figures, (which I have been doing for over 40 years).
If you make the decision to give up something in order to gain something else, be prepared for other issue to arise. In my case, I am finding it difficult to know when an abstract painting is finished. Knowing when a representational figurative piece was finished became easy after 40 years of experience. Right now, I am just going with my gut, and trusting my intuition and my hand. That’s all I’ve got. Until I have more experience with this new direction.
Giving something up to gain something else is not a painless process, however, it could be exactly what you and your art needs to move forward.
Best,
David
[ONE-DAY WORKSHOPS]
INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED MIXED MEDIA FIGURE DRAWING & PAINTING
Santa Monica: December 7, Thursday (1 Space Available)
Santa Monica: December 8, Friday (2 Spaces Available)
Atascadero (SLO): January 26, Friday (Click to Wait List)
Atascadero (SLO):Saturday, January 27 (Click to Wait List)
10am - 4pm
Explore contemporary figure drawing, painting and mixed media using graphite, charcoal, pastel, acrylic, and collage. Experiment with different approaches for developing the human form such as realism, expressionism and abstraction. Emphasis is placed on observation, structure, line quality, volume, composition, technique, experimentation, and originality. Discussions, art historical examples, and demonstration are all a part of the curriculum.
Students work from a model and respond and manipulate their chosen mediums to arrive at a dynamic and unique solution. The focus is on... + CLICK FOR MORE.