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Studio Painter with an Inferiority Complex

Studio. Workshop. Painting workshop. The building where I paint.

Who cares? It is indoors, with consistent light, an easel that holds still, and nothing blowing around.  I like being a studio artist. There is a snobbery out there in Art World about plein air painting being superior. It is a specialized skill, and I admire people who can produce good work in a short amount of time with light that changes and changes and changes.

I am not one of those people.

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The painting on the left is 8×8″; the one on the right is 6×6″. This is the Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King. I paint it and it sells so I paint it again. Any questions?

Sorry. That sounded belligerent. Perhaps I feel a bit inferior when I compare myself to those awesome people who can paint on location.

Comparison isn’t a good thing. It is right there with perfectionism in terms of wiping out one’s confidence.

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I’m painting my favorite bridge again. This will be done with brighter than normal colors, as I did it last time. This time it will be 11×14″, not a square. Paintings that turn out well restore my confidence, in spite of the inferiority complex about being a studio painter. If I tried to paint this in plein air, I’d either get bitten by a rattlesnake or run over. It’s scary enough just taking photos of it!

 

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This is a set of 3 6×6″ paintings, all done with brighter than normal colors because it makes me happy to mix those kinds of colors. This is layer #1 and there will be at least 2 more layers added to each painting.

From left to right: Lake Kaweah, Moro Rock/Alta Peak, Blossom Peak with the North Fork of the Kaweah River. (Long title, small painting) All three are Three Rivers scenes.

These little paintings take a long time to do, but because of their small size, their value is perceived as a bargain. Often, people mistake them for 4×4″ and expect to pay $30 each.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Each one takes probably 5 hours to paint in order to get it to the level of detail and precision that I like.

Sorry. There’s that bad attitude again. Sigh.

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