Last week I was struggling to find my artistic momentum again after participating in two art shows and trying to force myself to paint, and it just wasn’t working out. No matter what color combination I used in the portrait, it seemed wrong. But, since I started a new portrait drawing this past weekend, things are coming together again. I’m learning that some days in the studio are better than others, and on the days when things don’t go according to plan, maybe I am learning something new and that is why I am struggling to make a piece “work.”
And finally, I am learning to take a step back and work on other projects when one painting isn’t working out. So back to my question from last week of, What’s next? For me, it’s returning to portrait drawing and painting. Drawing portraits is in fact, the thing that lighted a fire in me to create art. I started out drawing celebrity portraits from magazines such as People and Time in pencil on plain paper back when I was a teenager. So I am going back to the beginning and drawing portraits of people, and not just anyone, but people who have made a specific impact on my life, through their music, or poetry. So this week I worked on portraits of George Michael, whose music from Wham! and Faith albums furnished the soundtrack of my childhood. It reminds me of happier days when there was less to worry about and few responsibilities except getting myself out of bed and going to school. George Michael’s passing last December has made these portraits specifically significant to me because in a way it is a type of metaphorical loss for me, a loss of childhood and innocence, or perhaps a reminder that time is passing and life is not a guarantee. These are two portraits of George Michael in progress…
Art of Schmidt 