Rock Out with Your Spout Out

When I was in school I took a class in the sculpture department. After the midterm he split us into two groups: the first group simply had to make the best sculpture they could, but only one piece; the second group had to make 100 lbs. worth of sculptures. Six weeks passed and the final critique was upon us. The sculptures were displayed around the room, and do you know what was immediately apparent? The work of the kids in the second group was far superior to the work of the kids in the first group, and here's why:

The kids in the first group sat around and planned, and sketched, and worried, and fretted about what would make "the best sculpture ever". They did more thinking than doing, and talk is cheap. The kids in the second group would make a sculpture, and then they'd have to make another one. And another one. And another one. And, you guessed it, another one. By doing so they learned what didn't work and transferred the knowledge to the next piece.

The message was simple: you learn to do by doing; not by thinking; not by planning; not by scheming -- by doing. That's the point behind these 10-minute paintings. If you want to learn a lot about painting (or drawing, or sculpting, or seeing), then I'd highly recommend you give this a shot. I've learned a lot so far, and I can't wait to see what I learn in the future!

Each square is about 4" x 4". Oil on illustration board.

P.S.
The story about the sculpture class didn't actually happen to me, it happened to a friend of mine, but it's just easier to tell in the first person. Besides, the moral doesn't change.

Ten-Minute Challenge

I recently came across an interesting little call to arms -- so to speak. The idea is simple enough, as all great ideas are; pick a subject and paint it. Over and over and over again. But there's a catch: you only get ten minutes for each painting.

This was my first crack at it. All in all I think they turned out well. I got kind of tired after the fourth one; painting at a sprint kind of wears you down. I'm going to work this into my daily painting routine; at least for the foreseeable future. Now all I'll have to do is figure out a better place to set up. (I was almost quite literally painting in the dark this afternoon.)

Each square is about 4" x 4". Oil on illustration board.

Muad'Dib has a Posse

Warm up for the day. Recently finished reading Dune so it was kind of on my mind.

Oil on canvas paper. ~ 11 x 14