100 Paintings Challenge: Last of the Yupo #22

Quantity over Quality

Sounds odd doesn't it?! Quantity over quality………

The purpose for quantity over quality is because most of us strive to paint a quality painting each time we touch brush to paper. We sometimes get too caught up in the quality of our paintings and don't finish them for a myriad of reasons including "it's not good enough," "it doesn't look right," and "it looks nothing like I thought it would."

By focusing on quantity, we set aside the search for perfection and begin to paint for the practice of it, to learn what works, what doesn't and to keep going - no matter how good or how poorly a painting is turning out.

Giving/Receiving Encouragement

One of the things that can help us to grow quickly is encouraging comments - it keeps us motivated to continue painting. We are often “too close” to our own work and someone else, with more distance, can easily see areas to be improved.

Giving Encouragment:

• Be positive and upbeat!

• Use constructive criticism if you offer a critique.

• Be specific about what works well and why OR what does not work well and why.

• Re-read your comments BEFORE posting to make sure they say what you want them say!

• Be kind and courteous.

• Consider that you may not know what the artist’s “vision” is for a particular piece of artwork.

Receiving Encouragement:

• Try it on for size - if it fits, great. If not, disregard the comment(s).

• Take the comment in the spirit it was given - to be helpful.

• Do not fire off a comment in anger or hurt.

• Do not retaliate by being hurtful in your comments back to someone who has hurt you.

If you feel someone is being unfair on a repeated basis, contact me directly so that we can discuss it off-line.

PLEASE NOTE: As moderator of this blog, I reserved the right to delete any and all comments and/or posts offensive or harmful to other participants. This includes excessive negativity. I reserve the right to remove a participant from the blog if offensive behaviors persist after a written warning is issued. All decisions will be final and not open for discussion.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Last of the Yupo #22

A black bear and her cub wander through an aspen grove in Yellowstone. If you look carefully at the nearest aspen you’ll see little claw marks made at some earlier date by a cub climbing the aspen. The lower parts of both aspen are scarred and nearly black because elk have chewed the bark off during the hard months of winter. This little painting was inspired by one of my many trips to Yellowstone. Painted with water soluble graphite pencil and watercolor on Yupo.

Now for a confession. When I purchased the Yupo ‘paper’ a few days ago my normal caution was sleeping. It was sold on the same rack with Arches watercolor paper. I assumed this stuff was also a quality surface. I’m always checking the acid content of paper and making sure I’m do serious work on good paper. The Yupo didn’t have any information with it.

Laure Ferlita gently asked whether I knew much about Yupo. She also sent a link so I could start discovering. Yupo isn’t paper. It is plastic! No wonder paint washes off and ink takes forever to dry. It is a very different surface and offers some intriguing possibilities, but I think the archival qualities need to be addressed. If you go to the Yupo website (http://www.yupousa.com/paper/index.php you find out how tough it is, but not how archival it is.

According to another web site plastics are degrading and at an alarming rate: As artists I think we should all be aware of the probable limited life expectancy of art created with plastic. I don’t plan to spend any more of my time working on this surface. Thank you, Laure, for alerting me.
(http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/art/2009/07/does_plastic_art_last_forever.html

5 comments:

liz Cutler said...: It looks like you have gone out wth a bang on the yupo. Beautiful texture on the trees and sublte tone and color works beautifully.; January 22, 2012 at 9:34 PM
Camille said...: Thanks for the information, Elva. the "paper". Love the painting. Your trees are so nice; January 22, 2012 at 10:04 PM
Lorrie Klosterman said...: Charming bear action shot. Based on a photo? So Elva, what is Yupo for, then? As for archive quality materials, I found out that not all papers are equally durable when I did the toilet paper series ... no, just kidding. I have a few times used posterboard, though, with its slippery sheen. The pigments don't go in very far and can be escorted around in very different ways than on "official" watercolor paper. And lamp black (I was doing black-and-white pics) sedimented out so interestingly, eventually. I could get most of it off later if necessary. I think some watercolor artists use posterboard intentionally for that quality. Have not looked into its long-term merits, though.; January 22, 2012 at 11:28 PM
Elva Paulson said...: The bears came out of my head .... but I have sketched them in the wild and from photos many times. I purposefully was keeping this sketch loose so out of my head was good enough.

I think the Yupo has many uses for commercial purposes, where it is painted for advertising or illustration, and having it be archival is not a factor. I even found some paper sculptures cut out of it. ... and for fun, it don't see a problem using it. It'll probably last just fine as long as I am alive, but I'd feel uncomfortable selling anything done on it.; January 23, 2012 at 1:05 AM
Kelly said...: ...those little paw scratches in the wood are so cute. Nothing I've ever seen around here, although Black Bears are around in Ohio. Thanks for testing out and giving us the heads up on Yupo!; January 24, 2012 at 7:18 AM

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Artistic Development

• This blog is dedicated to artistic improvement. It is a venue for the committed artist to receive ENCOURAGEMENT while taking on the 100 Painting Challenge.

• It is a place to discuss struggles with the challenge.

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• It is a place to offer encouragement to others.

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• A painting may only be posted once.

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About the Challenge

The 100 Paintings In a Year Challenge is intended for artists that are dedicated to the growth and development of their style as well as their artistic voice. The challenge also provides a means for overcoming areas in need of improvement.

The paintings should be a mix of small, medium and large pieces, some sketches, plein aire, and studio work; work from life as well as from photos. The variety is meant to push the artist out of any rut, to provide ample opportunity to create no matter what other time obligations are going on, and to challenge the artist if they do not create in one of these categories. The work can be done in any medium, but it is strongly advised that the artist consider choosing one medium in which to do the Challenge as this will help facilitate faster growth than trying to master multiple mediums.

DO NOT JUDGE the artwork! When a piece is complete, set it aside and move to the next piece of work. Learning to suspend judgement of our work is a major step forward in the development our skills.

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