study - NOVEMBER OBLIQUE © Sharon L Hicks

CP - 5 x 7

This was a very unusual cloud formation - the cloud bank on the right was really quite slanted, and at first glance could be mistaken for the side of a distant mountain. But there are no mountains where I live - apart from gently rolling ones further inland. It was definitely one I just HAD to capture!!

Yesterday I mentioned that Simplicity was the key to doing this series of quick studies. That concept could also be applied to other ventures as well, even to life itself. We complicate our lives with deadlines, schedules, expectations, and collections of 'stuff'. While each of these elements can enhance our life experience in their own right, when taken to extremes they can weigh us down and eventually lead to a life of just trying to 'keep up' with what we feel we 'should' be doing.

I like this quote, attributed to Leonardo daVinci:   “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” When we simplify our lives, we open ourselves up to a greater richness of experiences than we could ever have imagined possible. When the mind is not bogged down with 'should do', we can more clearly see what we 'can do'.

I'm seeing more and more people of retirement age (which is where I am) divesting themselves of possessions and routines, downsizing to smaller quarters to simplify their daily lives, which in turn allows them a newfound freedom to explore possibilities outside the realm of their previous habits. Clearing out your living space also effectively clears out the debris in your mind, and opens it up to 'what else' might be out there to enjoy. It's really liberating.

This concept of Simplification plays a very important role in doing quick studies - where the goal is to 'capture and record' the most basic information, in the shortest time possible. With practice and repetition this process becomes easier and easier, until eventually it is an integral part of artistic vision itself.

With that in mind, here's the development steps of this quick study:

          my photo                       after 10 minutes                       after 1 hour

In the first step, the cotton-ball draft, you can see where I've very quickly indicated the position of each major component of this composition ... making a few changes, as usual, to strengthen the overall impact.

This time the draft stage was accomplished in only 10 minutes, which marked the 'next step' in the progression of this method. After doing 8 previous studies, my mind was becoming more adept at quickly picking out the most important information to use, and my hand was gaining skill in following what the mind directed.

As I've done in some of the other studies, I changed the treeline slightly, which adjusted the scale of the sky, making it the most prominent part of the composition. With only 10 minutes devoted to the initial draft, this left a full 50 minutes for the 'finishing' work, which allows for a slightly more 'complete' result. You can still see, though, that it is not really as 'finished' as a painting would be. But the goal of recording the information quickly was reached.

Tomorrow I'll be back with the next in this series. See you then.

Cheers

Sharon