Wholesale Attitudes

 Some artists have what I call a wholesale attitude about their work. These are painters who sell their work substantially below market value. 

 Their work tends to be formulaic in style. They have found a style which is easy to do quickly and is marketable to the pop culture we now live in. Often, they will line up canvases, painting all the sky, then trees, then grasses, with slight variations.

 They use tried and true palette colors, brushwork they are used to, and subjects they are sure will sell. This sounds like good business and financially it probably is. They sell lots of paintings with their production line assembly. They borrow it from Ford’s original idea. It is the same for artists who sell reproductions. To each his or her own. This is probably jealousy on my part.

 That is an easier way to make a living than for those of us who struggle with new and difficult processes we are unsure of. I am always pleasantly surprised when finishing a painting in good form. Many of my experiments are failures, but I learn from all of them. Constant study, changing brushwork, palettes, subjects, and mediums are risky. The rewards are vast!

 

Life is process and experimentation for country painters....