With this relaunch and the realization that I overcomplicate things, I’ve made a decision about my blogging: I’m going to keep things short and sweet. I know Leo Babauta has declared that he won’t post anything over 400 words on mnmlist. While I make no guarantees that I won’t run over a specific length, it is a worthy goal to shoot for.
In the same vein, I am going to try to do small paintings more often. I imagine that it will have several benefits:
- I’ll work out my “artistic muscles” and get better at my craft, honing my skills as an artist
- A five-by-seven-inch canvas is easily completed in a relatively short time frame, keeping it short and sweet
- Ideas beget more ideas, work begets more work.
- By posting the images here and linking to the corresponding items on (eBay? Etsy?) I’ll build a following around my work. The more Brad Blackman art there is to see, more people will be likely to look at it and keep up with it, which leads to…
- Increased likelihood of selling my work and get one step closer to my dream of supporting my family as a fine artist/designer
Not long after I got laid off last summer, I completed about three or four 5” x 7” paintings each week. I wanted to do one a day, but I guess I lacked the discipline to do so, and quit after about three weeks.
Three small paintings a week is probably more than I can commit to right now, much less one a day! The full-time temp gig I’m doing, the freelance design work that keeps coming in (no complaints there!!), and taking care of my growing family prevent me from spending a huge amount of time in the studio, so I’m going to shoot for a minimum of one a week.
(My ideal is to support my family with a mix of freelance design work and fine art. What exactly that balance is, I don’t know yet.)
But it should be a fun ride. If you want, you can subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed and you’ll see my new art as soon I post it.
