Do you wish you could work faster?

[WildCherry]

As I've been labouring over my second Handless Maiden painting, woefully behind on my schedule as she should have been finished at the beginning of May, I have been seriously wishing that I could work faster.

I've been thinking that its probably just a matter of experience because when I first started out as a graphic designer it could take me a week to design a logo and now I can do one in - at most - a day, usually a few hours. But what if its not just experience. What if it really comes down to attitude and approach?

I just came across an article on this very topic. Read it and let me know what you think!

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Well, he may have something helpful there, worth a try. It's probably true for those who do have a lot of experience in painting, and yet are still working slowly and methodically, that practicing exercises aimed at speeding up the process could be a needed breakthrough.

I don't see a problem with speaking slowly, though ... in fact I often wish I was more aware of taking the time to put my mind in gear before engaging my mouth ... LOL!

[WildCherry]

I guess its always interesting to try a different pace...working with our usual medium at a different pace is almost like working with a different medium all together because the results are so different!

I know someone who speaks really slowly. He tends to be pretty slow at embracing change as well but he gets round to it eventually. I definitely wouldn't say he's a fool either!

What u say reminds me of a rhyme I love from my childhood:

"The wise old owl lived in the oak;
The more he heard, the less he spoke.
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?"

[Dan Goodwin]

It's an interesting discussion Cherry. I think there are two parts. First the technical expertise or skill involved. For example with Photoshop when I started I took ages to get anywhere with it. Now I can design and create a website header from scratch in a couple of hours, maybe less. This is mainly because I've learnt how to use certain features in Photoshop, I know how to get the graphic looking like I want. I don't think my actual creativity has changed in speed.

The second element is getting in tune with the natural speed of an idea or project. There are some I have created barely thinking or planning that have turned out great. Others have been a long drawn out process with much tweaking and editing. I prefer the shorter ones, but in way I feel you don't quite connect or attach yourself emotionally to what you've created with these. There are lots of poems I've written for example that I know are mine just from the style, but don't really remember writing them...

I think this is closely linked with how much of a perfectionist you are. Obviously the more you need a project to be "perfect" in every aspect, the longer it'll take to finish off. This perfectionism then kind of leaks backwards and you create more slowly earlier on the project, partly to get it right and partly to delay reaching the painful finishing process where you could spend hours rewriting a single sentence for example.

Intriguing stuff...

Dan

[WildCherry]

I don't think my actual creativity has changed in speed.
Maybe not...but you can now wield your tools at a speed that can keep up with your brain activity whereas before the unfamiliarity with the tools slowed you down.

When I first got a computer, I felt I had found an art medium that could go at something like the speed that my ideas came whereas painting always seemed very laborious in comparison. Now I guess that having a computer permanently takes care of that part of my brain that needs to go at speed and I can slow down a bit more and cope with the slow pace of painting. Doesn't stop me wishing I could go faster though, because then I could work through even more of my ideas. Like Jules said, its back to the dinner scenario!

I hadn't thought of a project or idea having a 'natural speed'. What an interesting concept! I think Maisel alludes to this as well in the podcast I've linked to below...Certainly my projects have moments of speed and decisiveness with lots of turtle time in between!

That last bit about perfectionism leaking backwards is also fascinating and I will definitely give it some thought. I know I'm guilty of perfectionism but I think I do have a rational grip on when something is finished because to me it feels finished and that's that. (I love that quote from Jackson Pollock, when asked by a journalist how he knew when a painting was finished, he said something along the lines of "How do you know when you've had an orgasm?"!) But what you say rings a bell and I think that that in turn can be linked to inexperience because the more we are familiar with our tools and process the more we can shortcut stages that seem necessary when we begin. We are able to trust our intuition to guide us where at the beginning we might feel we need a visible handrail!

Interestingly I find the finishing process usually the most uplifting apart from starting and not painful at all! I described it to someone yesterday as tobogganing down hill! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Great insights, Dan. Thanks for all your comments:-)

[Dan Goodwin]

Cherry,

Yes exactly, in the Photoshop example I know can "weild my tools" more efficiently and expertly so I can create more quickly. I meant the speed of having ideas doesn't change, ideas tend to come in a flash!

You know, come to think of it the speeding up is true with any creative medium, not just on the technical side.

For example, how do you learn to write a book? You write a book. How do you learn to paint? You paint. The more you do it, the easier it comes, the more you find your own voice or style, and hopefully the more quickly you can get your creative ideas and visions on the page/canvas.

Knowing when something is finished is an interesting one... Personally when writing poems for example, I know when it's "finished enough" for me to let go of. It's like starting with a rough chunk of wood and gradually chipping away and sanding it until it's smooth to the touch. But it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, I do like to leave a few rough edges - woods or phrases that slightly jar or cause a change in the rhythm or the image. I hate poems that rhyme 1-2-1-2 or 1-2-3-2, the rhythm just bores me!

I like seeing a finished piece, but it's good in the midst of creating too. I think it's important to savour the experience at each point of the process.

Dan

[WildCherry]

Yes, finished enough is all I can hope for! As for rough edges...I've always got a few more than I would like but there comes a point when I know that I've done as much as I'm capable of with my current abilities. I like the idea of your leaving rough edges on purpose! Perhaps that's what I've just been doing as I've been applying paint and textural medium with my spatula...I do like a bit of texture!

[Susan Hosken]

I work very slowly because I do knitting and cross stitch and they take ages to do. My doodles are time consuming as well. Collaging is a little faster.
lots of love from susan in australia

[Beth Robinson]

Definitely! I am most drawn to layered complex work, too, which doesn't help.

But that type of work can also go relatively fast or slow. I've taken Robert's approach before of considering it more as play and dashing in and moving quickly, even though there have to be gaps between my dashes. And I've carefully considered each step and worked more slowly.

It depends on why you're slow. Are you trying to do a technically difficult passage that simply takes time via the skill required? Are you thinking about each stroke and wondering if you're really doing the right thing?

That latter attitude is what I think Robert is calling "slow painting".

Hmm, I wrote this before I actually READ Dan's reply and I think he said it better than I did.

[WildCherry]

It would be interesting to see your results for those two different types of approaches, Beth!

Like you, I seem to be drawn to make 'layered complex work' but when I see the work of others that is more direct, I'm drawn to that too.

[RobynG]

Because of the RSI I have slowed down quite a bit and find I am savouring my work and allowing surprises to happen. Of course experience plays a part and the more experienced I become the more time (and courage) there is to be more innovative. Oops, forgot to read the article....I will return!

[RobynG]

I read the article and think its a matter of personal choice or pace. Dan's answer about "getting in tune with the natural speed of an idea" makes sense. I think if you are slowing down Cherry it's to allow your brain to mull over new developments and assess all that you are learning with each step. I'm sure you will find there are times that you are quick and others when you slow right down.

[WildCherry]

I'm not slowing down, rather going at my usual slow-painting pace! But u are right, as I said elsewhere, the end of a piece usually goes quite fast and the beginning relatively so...but the middle...like walking through treacle!