[Today’s featured artwork for Day 16 of the 365 Days Project is by Adriano Manocchia.]
Paint a sunset. And when you’re done, paint ten more.
#16 – Don’t settle for a single sculpture or painting or photograph.
Any subject can have a million ways of seeing it and working intensely with a singular subject or technique or material deepens one’s understanding of it. A fellow artist once suggested an exercise for me: take a sketchbook on a walk, find a subject and create five drawings, in quick succession, of the same subject. My first drawing was a stiff, literal reproduction of a cluster of cattails. The second was easier as my mind relaxed and my hand loosened up. The third drawing was far more interesting and vastly superior to the first and I was sure I already understood the exercise. I considered stopping, but decided to continue. By the fifth drawing, I had created a completely different interpretation of the subject: the cattails had evolved into a beautiful and fascinating cluster of people – a drawing I never would have imagined on the first try.
This is often why artists create certain works in a series. There’s always something new to see, a new perspective to explore. They work until the subject has exhausted its potential, its message, and even then there’s the sense that you still don’t know everything.
Sunsets never get old.
“A really good picture looks as if it’s happened at once… For my own work, when a picture looks labored and overworked… I usually throw these out, though I think very often it takes ten of those over-labored efforts to produce one really beautiful wrist motion that is synchronized with your head and heart, and you have it, and therefore it looks as if it were born in a minute.”
Helen Frankenthaler
Adriano Manocchia’s artwork can be viewed at Adriano Manocchia.
The 365 Days Project
In 2012, Serena Kovalosky committed to writing an article a day for 365 days as an exploration into the lives of artists and the value of creative thinking in our society.
Experience the full evolution of the project! Click below to read the entire collection of articles.
Descriptions of the images included in this post:
Perfect Time of Day
Adriano Manocchia, New York, USA
Oil on panel
Duck Hunting
Adriano Manocchia, New York, USA
Oil on panel
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