Hard Work

This weekend wasn't a good one for progress. I'm stuck on a lot of process details. A selection:

1. Should I change my sketch before I start making the piece that I think I'm ready to start cutting? I can't decide if it IS complete or if it only FEELS complete and I should keep pushing. If I get started there are still a number of choices to make about colors and construction. 
 2. Should I make all my sketches before I get to work making the pieces? If I do this I'd have a better sense of what the series is going to be, and be able to make the whole series more cohesive. Alternatively, making it piece by piece would let me switch things up more. Oh. Writing this out I know now, I think I need to do all the sketches first. Duh.



Hokusai would do his sketches first. When in doubt, ask WWHD? 
 
3. Should I buy some equipment that would help me now? I have several big purchases to make including a camera, a computer with a big screen and then there are some less necessary gadgets that I want and could eventually be a big help, like a good screen printing kit, an iPad*, etc. Paying for these items is going to require spacing things out, and I wrestle with which items I should buy when. So as a means of coping I've just been putting it all off and wasting money on other non essential, non delicious art supply purchases. Healthy of me, especially as now I'm traveling soon and even though I probably should get the computer first (would be good if I do all the sketches first), maybe the camera or iPad would be good things to have for a trip. Hmm....

4. Frames?! Oh no. I don't even want to talk about this. I have a frame I really like, and I got it at a thrift store. So I either need to spend some time really looking into the retail options for frames, or get custom frames. I need frames before I cut my pieces, because once I get started they're going to need a safe place to live- they can rip easily. I have a strong sense this will be frustrating, so I'm putting it off.

5. Studio logistics. Is there communal internet in my building? How can I get in on that? Will the new shipment of my drafting tabletop come soon and fix the issues I identified in the one it came with? Where in the building am I allowed to spray paint something without also poisoning myself? I should go talk to my building managers.

So that's all the minor stuff. Here's the larger stuff. I'm struggling with composition of pieces. I know in a broad sense what I want to do. And I have one piece that is perfect. I'm completely happy with it, and all it needs is enlarging and recreating in the right format. But as for the other pieces! I can't decide whether or not to skip having humans in the pieces or not. It affects the entire concept if there are people there, versus not. I've been wandering around for a week and a half thinking about it. People add human interest of course. But is presenting the subject as landscape more compelling? Hard to say. I've been wandering around thinking about this one quite a bit. Content requires a pretty long hard think well before the execution. I'm probably going to have to make each sketch both ways first.


*Stay tuned for a post tommorrow about my internal turmoil over the iPad. I am pondering one as an e-sketchbook, but I'm also conflicted. Oh iPad, are your flaws truly fatal?

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