Tag Archives: brainstorming

Too Shy Shy, Hush Hush, Eye to Eye

"Complacent" by Amy Guidry; SOLD

Yes, for all of you fellow music hounds, that is from a Kajagoogoo song.  My title refers to all you shy (?) readers out there that have not left any comments or questions for me.  Don’t be shy!  What thoughts do you have concerning art- be it mine or others?  Do you have any questions?  What’s on your mind in regards to current art trends or the art market?  Let’s get a discussion going here.  I’m providing my insight on this blog, but if there’s a certain issue you’d like to get my perspective on, let me know.

For instance, one question that I seem to get a lot is how I come up with ideas for my artwork.  I think nothing of it, but perhaps this is a tough issue for other artists or maybe they’re just curious about my thought process.  To answer the question, I generally sketch tons of ideas out and pick and choose what I want to bring to fruition.  Usually once I start, I then decide on the direction I want to go in so I can create a cohesive body of work.  This means that a lot of ideas are put on the backburner.  However, I eventually get back to them and use them as is or develop them a bit further.  I used to not sketch out every idea, which was a big mistake because I know from experience that what may have seemed like a stupid concept at the time is actually a great idea.

Never throw out your sketches.  Maybe that’s the packrat in me talking, but some of my best paintings are from ideas that I almost abandoned.  Maybe they are not meant to be used at that time and will be appropriate later.  Or maybe you just need some space so that when you return to those ideas, you can work on them with a clear head.  Sometimes I have the idea, but I try working it out in different ways (all pointing in the same direction, just a different handling) so that I have several variations to choose from. 

So I think that answers the question.  If you have any others, please feel free to share them with me.  Even if it’s just to ask who’s Kajagoogoo.