I am working on a private commission in my studio. Most of my studio art (not my commercial art for Trader Joe's or residential builders or wherever) is done for private clients who request an artwork and pay in installments. Even though I have received (and spent) the first installment for this piece, I have delayed and delayed on it for months. Now, after returning home from Boston and re-activating my studio, I have to get it done.

I don't know quite why I find it so hard to do this particular piece. It should interest me; it's a piece of architectural surrealism somewhat in the style of M.C. Escher. Or to be more precise, it is done as a homage to the contemporary Belgian surrealist Francois Schuiten (art gallery with titles and texts in French, click on the link words above and then the numbers to the left to see the pictures). But Schuiten is having a lot more fun with his work than I am with mine. Perhaps it is the leaden color scheme I chose, with somber black, grey, brown, and blue. Perhaps it is the absence of human figures, which I can't draw anyway no matter how hard I try. Or perhaps it is the technical problem of trying to do acrylic textures and watercolor textures in the same painting, as well as the non-absorbent illustration board surface which I don't like very much.

But most likely, it is the quote which I have to incorporate in the painting, which the client gave me. For the sake of client privacy I can't quote it here, and it is nothing shocking or disturbing, but I just don't "resonate" with it. Nevertheless I will letter it in where I have designed it to be, in readable script. The client is an old friend of my family back in New England, and he deserves the very best I can do. Usually, with an artwork of this type and small size (14 and a half inches by 9 inches), I am able to pull it out towards the finish and get a fairly decent piece out of it. I hope this happens with this one. If it does, I'll be happy to show it to you once it's done.

This is what it means to be a professional artist. I don't have the luxury of working from "inspiration" or "self-fulfillment." The client is the one who counts, whether it is a private collector or a commercial establishment asking for an ad. The client's satisfaction is my satisfaction too. But in this case I have tried the client's patience. Just a few more days and it will be done.

I can't say I've been doing much math or physics study. In fact, at this point I am thinking more about costumes than scientific studies, to my consternation. I should not be spending my time thinking about how scientists dress or how I would dress a scientist in a fantasy universe. If the fantasy scientist doesn't care how he dresses, as long as he wears something, why should I? One thing I am hoping to do in the upcoming months is design costumes which reflect scientific ideas and natural phenomena, from the astronomical to the geological. This is not commissioned or commercial work, but I do have an audience for it and would be thrilled if any of these designs made it to the presentation stage.

But now back to the drawing board where I must attend to the railing of a spiral staircase: mathematics in ink and water-medium paint.

Posted at 4:19 am | link