My process & keeping it exciting

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well and having a fantastic week. I have been very busy this week in studio with a few acrylic paintings, and even some linocut experimentation. I have had such a blast working on these pieces, some of which are still in progress.

Above: Progress shot of one of the paintings that I started this week of Dublin city.

Why work on so many pieces at once you may ask? I find that working on multiple artworks at once helps me keep my process interesting and exciting. I don't know about you, but when I work on one piece at a time I find that it creates unnecessary pressure on the creation of that specific piece. We almost become too precious about the artwork. Would you agree? By working on multiple artworks at the same time, I find that I take more creative risks and try new approaches more easily.

While working on this acrylic painting of Dublin city this week, I noticed that I was maybe too cautious at times with the work so I started a smaller acrylic painting on the side (see below). This smaller painting had a much looser painterly style and helped me loosen up a bit in the larger painting as well.

Above: Progress shot of the smaller painting I started on the side.

Above: The completed smaller painting.

There are many advantages of working on multiple artworks at once. It is important to step away from your work and get some emotional distance. That way, when you come back to a specific work later on, you have fresh perspective and fresh ideas about what to add or remove. Having multiple pieces in progress allows me to do this. I'm able to start a piece, and then step back for a while as I work on another. If you are working on a series, working on several pieces all at once, can also help create cohesion in that body of work.

Another great thing about working on multiple paintings at once, is that you can save paint and not waste the bits of paint you may have left over on your palette.

This trick, together with a great music playlist helps me keep my process interesting and exciting. How about you? How do you keep your process exciting? Please feel free to share in the comments below.