[ceenda]

One of the coolest things on Sijun right now has been the speedpics thread, the size of it being testament to how many people feel the ability to contribute.

I was wondering, in the same way that I run out of the house first thing in the morning with an "Alpen" bar as apposed to eating a full breakfast as I did a couple of years ago, it just seems that we rush alot of work on the forums now. People seem desperate to pump out a workload of stuff almost impulsively. This has nothing to do with talent, even alot of the most professional painters here have been doing alot of quickies.

I just wondered what the big rush was thesedays?

With threads disappearing off the page before any of us get a chance to look at them, it might be an idea to boast about how long it takes you, rather than how quickly.

Hmn, I'm not sure if I even understand my own post...

[r3t]

well im sure i don't :P

i do know one thing though, i'm not a professional designer (yet) but i really don't care about how long a piece takes. As long as it looks sweet it's all irrelevant.
Time also has little to do with the quality of a piece, i can spend weeks on a crappy design or on a good day make a fresh one within an hour (speaking out of experience :P)

[milan jaram]

quote:

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but i really don't care about how long a piece takes. As long as it looks sweet it's all irrelevant.
Time also has little to do with the quality of a piece

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I disagree. The time taken on a peice is NOT irrelevant. It is proven time and time again, the longer time spent on any peice (especially that for professionals, experts, or just very talented artists) shows and pays off in their work. Therefore, not only adding value, quality and stunning polished work - but also adding sentimental value to the artist, and perhaps the viewer... Giving much more meaning than a 'quickie' painting no matter how sweet it looks.

Composition is one thing, be it quickly jotted down (in most cases sketchy, rough composition is ideal) but being polished and worked over for a lengthy period of time will very much add cleaner visual goodies to the peice than a quickie.

[Gort]

My take on the speedpic thing is that it's a fun exercise; I hardly think that it would become a global standard for everyone and anyone that paints with any media. Is it a legitimate form? I believe that it is, but maybe it isn't for everyone; some folks might paint that way while others do not.

Just do your thing.

[Max]

I agree with milan and Tom.
Time is not irrelevant and it's for fun.

[r3t]

ofcourse a piece has a higher potential to look good when an artist puts more time into it, i cant disagree with that. All i'm saying is that it's Irrelevant for me if a pic is a quicky or months of work, i don't care as long as it looks good

Something which can also happen when you work to long on a piece is that you over-polish it. To much of anything is never good.

[AndyT]

quote

Quote:

With threads disappearing off the page before any of us get a chance to look at them, it might be an idea to boast about how long it takes you, rather than how quickly.

I get that I guess. I agree that is seems a lot of people are proud because a picture only took them 15 minutes even though it obviously could need more work. Maybe that's what you meant?
But speedpainting can be a good thing if you know what you are doing. Because of the routine you get into ... it'll take less time to make a decission ... you can practice more.
You shouldn't work on the same picture for ages ... !?

[jayceeL]

I look at speedpainting as the workout for the artist. It's just to exercise your skills and to try and get things done the right way quickly without having to go over it again and again. Speedpainting doesn't mean that you should be sloppy when painting. A lot of commercial work do have to be done quite quickly but still look the part.

I think you learn to think quicker and paint faster. I would compare it to the quick sketches in life drawing.

JayCeeL

[zak]

yeah i agree. speedpainting isnt really a substitute for the fully finished painting (depending on who you are) but still. i fel that you learn much more. ive been oc-ing like a mad man in the last couple os months, and i learned alot, as soon as i went back to do a painting, i could straight away see the difference in quality, and how much better my work looked compared to the old stuff.

its not a matter of speed pics becoming the norm, everyones been doing them all along, but they were too embarrassed to show, they just seem in fashion now, thats why everyone is postin gthem. i recon thats a good thing by the way.

[ November 02, 2002: Message edited by: zak ]

[the_insider]

...im glad there are many people participating in the speed painting threads...my hunch is that many people these days talk about not having any time for anything so these threads are the perfect way for them to unleash everything they havent had the chance to...they dont have to take the time to make it a finished piece...i really love looking at the speedies because it really shows the less technical side of the artist behind it...such as what they were feeling at the time

[atomicmonkey]

I agree with the exercise idea. That's what it is, a way to practice and get results clearly, without spending a lot of time on it.

I think I remember in one of Spooge's posts how you shouldn't spend more than a half hour or something on a painting as far as pure practicing goes. Doing speed paintings over and over again help you decide how to get your message across quickly and clearly, without forcing you to go into detail. Throwing down the main colours, lights, midtones, shadows... and getting the overall 'look' while focussing on the whole rather than individual parts. It can really make your brush strokes more confident.

It's similar to Life Drawing and practicing gestures. The more gestures you do, the quicker you can represent the model on your page, and the more accurate they will be. In the long run, it will improve your longer poses, similar to how speed painting will improve your longer ones.

[Chile]

One method of the creative process as it relates to Abstract work is to produce as many marks as you can on seperate pages while contemplating whatever the inspiration is.

Then, after about 30-50 seperate pages, go through and find the ones you like. After this, you reproduce the marks you like on another 30 or so pages with varying colours.

Then, you take the top 2 or 3 marks most true to the inspiration/idea/concept and produce your final piece from them.

All through this method, you work as fast as you can while you try to stay within the realm of your purpose.