A PICTURE IS A BY PRODUCT
I think I have decided to call this latest series of pieces the “Soul Searcher Drawings”. But for now each one remains untitled. “Untitled”, 16” x12”, graphite, charcoal, acrylic and collage on paper. © 2021 David Limrite
“Art is evidence. Evidence of breathing in and breathing out; proof of human majesty.”
Squeak Carnwath, Artist
A Picture Is A Byproduct
The painting of a picture is about the actual making of it, not necessarily about the resulting picture. I call this, “process not product” in my book Create Anyway.
The resulting picture is a byproduct of the activity of painting it. This activity is about the doing, the making and the time spent in the activity of creating.
The finished painting records a moment of time. A moment of existence. It is a record of the artist's energy. Of the artist's choices and decisions. It is documentation of the artist's risks, attempts, correcting, re-doing, re-working, layering, additions, subtractions, changes in motivation, and thought processes.
The results are the traces and footprints left by the artist as evidence that the artist was there. And proof that the artist created something.
The activity of creating a picture is the true reward for the creator.
The finished picture now exists on its own to be enjoyed, loved, cherished, treasured, or even hated, by those who view it. By the time most people view a finished painting, the artist is long gone and off another adventure of creating a new picture.
Artists are all about the process. The making. The doing. The creating.
This is where the artist feels most alive and most at home.
The finished painting stands as a testament to the artist having been present at the creation of a picture.
Best,
David
P.S. The Create Anyway Collective is coming. One of the past CAC artists would have been crushed when someone didn't like her work (and expressed it directly to her, no less). Learn how she feels now after having completed the Create Anyway Collective.