( 그림공부 ) Painting under pressure

Barbara Jaenicke, “Gallatin River Memory,” oil, 8 x 10 in., Plein air

 

Babara Jaenicke 라는 미국 화가가 쓴 글이 흥미가 있어 여기 옮긴다.

(영어 원문은 맨 뒤에 , 번역은 구글 번역 그대로 )

이 화가의 다양한 칼라 처리가 매우 인상적이라 그림도 같이 올린다.

사실 현장에서 그리는 그림은 현장감이 있어 좋기는 하지만 한편 생각해보면

여러가지 제약이 있다보니 항상 좋은 결과만 있는 것도 아니다.

따라서 현장에서 큰 캔버스를 갖고 끙끙거리는 것 보다는 이 화가처럼 작은 

캔버스로 현장의 느낌을 제대로 다양하게 잡아내는 것이 바람직하다는 생각을 한다.

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광고 분야에서 아트 디렉터로 일할 때, 공황상태의 마감일이 저와 다른 광고 

동료들에게서 가장 뛰어난 창의적 아이디어를 짜내는 듯했습니다. 

가장 뛰어난 아이디어는 종종 밤샘이 될 것이라는 걸 알고 있는 자정이 

지난 후에 떠올랐습니다.

하지만 그림 그리는 데는 그런 적이 없었습니다. 

특정 마감일까지 훌륭한 작품을 그려야 한다는 압박을 받으면, 결과는 

대개 정반대였습니다. 제 최고의 작품은 보통 어떤 쇼, 대회, 갤러리를 위해 

그림을 그리지 않을 때 나옵니다. 아이디어를 자유롭게 탐구할 수 있고, 

실패해도 마감일을 놓칠까 봐 걱정하지 않을 때입니다. 그저 탐구할 수 있는 

그런 상황에 처하면, 저는 제 능력을 더욱 발전시키는 데 집중하는 경향이 있습니다.

저는 열정적인 야외 화가이고, 자주 그림을 그리는 현장 연구를 하는 것이 

실제로 제 스튜디오 작업에 큰 차이를 만들어내지만, 경쟁적인 야외 행사에 

참여하면서 제 개인적인 창작 과정에 대해 꽤 많은 것을 알게 되었습니다.

Barbara Jaenicke, “Rugged Grandeur,” oil, 8 x 10 in., plein air

 

저는 이런 경쟁 상황에서 뛰어난 다른 야외 화가들을 관찰하면서 흥미로운 

점을 발견했습니다. 이런 예술가들 대부분이 이런 이벤트와 일치하는 

특정한 성격을 가지고 있는 것 같습니다.
첫째, 이런 예술가들 중 다수는 매우 사교적이고 야외 이벤트에서 시간 제약이 있고 

경쟁적인 환경에서도 구경꾼들과 대화하는 것을 매우 편안하게 여깁니다. 

둘째, 저는 이런 예술가들 대부분이 즉흥적으로 생각해야 하는 상황에서 

성공하는 경향이 있다고 생각합니다.
물론 어떤 그림이든 어느 정도 계획이 필요하지만, 야외 그림의 일반적인 

시간 제약으로 인해 예술가는 여전히 그 자리에서 빠르게 결정을 내려야 합니다. 

저는 항상 이런 면에서 뛰어난 제가 가장 좋아하는 야외 화가들을 존경해 왔습니다!
사실 인생의 어떤 상황에서든, 저를 그 자리에 놓고 빠르게 생각하라고 하면, 

그 결과는 보통 훌륭하지 않습니다. 저는 미리 계획할 수 없고 "즉흥적으로" 해야 할 

때는 보통 잘하지 못합니다.
하지만 솔직히 말해서, 이게 기본적으로 야외 화가로서 우리가 해야 할 일이에요. 

우리 대부분은 장소에 도착해서 풍경에 빛이 어떻게 비치는지 보기 전까지는 

정확한 주제를 선택하지 않거든요.
사실, 저는 야외 그림의 이런 애매한 측면을 어느 정도 즐기긴 하지만,

경쟁적인 상황과 추가적인 시간 제약으로 압박감을 느끼면 그림을

그리는 법을 잊어버릴 수도 있어요.

Barbara Jaenicke, “Mountain Overlook in Big Sky,” oil, 11 x 14 in., Plein air

 

저처럼 야외 행사에서 경쟁적으로 하는 것보다 스튜디오 작업에서 더 뛰어난 

사람들은 기획자가 되는 경향이 있습니다. 주제 선택에서 썸네일 스케치, 

공부, 그리고 더 큰 스튜디오 작업에서 최종 결정에 이르기까지 

저는 스튜디오의 조용한 곳에서 시간을 내어 각 단계를 신중하게 생각합니다. 

즉흥적으로 작업하는 데 뛰어난 예술가의 경우, 제 창작 과정이

그들을 잠들게 할 수도 있습니다.

결과적으로 저는 우리 각자의 고유한 성격이 종종 우리가 각자의 

최상의 예술적 노력을 달성하는 데 영향을 미칠 수 있다는 것을 알게 되었습니다. 

그래서 제가 여기서 언급한 과제는 제 과제입니다. 

여러분도 같은 과제를 겪을 수 있고, 다른 사람들은 다른 상황에서 창의력이 

불타오르는 것을 알게 될 수도 있습니다. 

저는 우리 모두가 각자 개인적으로 효과적인 창작 환경에 몰두해야 한다고 생각합니다.

저는 최근 예술가 친구 몇 명과 함께 몬태나에서 그림 여행을 갔습니다. 

그것은 어떤 행사의 일부가 아니었고 가르치기 위한 것도 아니었습니다. 

저는 그저 저에게 영감을 준 것을 그릴 수 있었고, 그것이 와이퍼(?)가 되어도 

걱정할 필요가 없었습니다. 저는 여기 이 게시물에 표시된, 제가 만족하는 

몇 가지 현장 연구를 가지고 집으로 돌아왔고, 이제 저는 스튜디오에서 

이러한 주제 중 일부를 더 탐구하고 싶은 영감을 받았습니다.

Barbara Jaenicke, “Morning Haze in Big Sky,” oil, 14 x 11 in., Plein air

 

아티스트로 활동한 기간이 길어질수록 나만의 고유한 창작 과정과 

최고의 작품을 만드는 데 도움이 되는 것이 무엇인지 더 잘 이해하게 됩니다. 

물론 인생은 이상적인 환경을 방해하고, 대부분의 프로 아티스트와 

마찬가지로 재정적으로 수입을 맞추기 위해 일정이 제가 원하는 것보다 촉박합니다.

하지만 일정을 최대한 잘 조정하여 현장과 스튜디오에서 아이디어를 

탐구할 시간을 확보하고, 마감일이 다가오면서 공황 상태에 빠지지 않고 

압박감을 느끼지 않으면서 가장 효과적인 자아가 될 수 있는 

여유를 더 많이 만들 수 있습니다.

Barbara Jaenicke, “Morning Among the Pines,” oil, 10 x 8 in., Plein air

 

위의 그림들은 현장에서 작은 캔버스에 그린 그림들이고 아래 그림은 스디오에서

그린 그림들과 현장에서 그린 그림들이다.

 

When I was an art director in the advertising field, panic deadlines seemed to squeeze out the best creative ideas from myself and my other advertising coworkers. The best ideas often got going sometime after midnight when we knew it was going to be an all-nighter.

 

However, that’s never been the case for me with painting. Put me under pressure to paint a great piece by a certain deadline, and the result is usually very much the opposite. My best work typically comes when I’m not painting for any show, competition, or gallery in particular; it’s when I can freely explore an idea and not worry about missing a deadline if it fails. Put me in that situation when I can simply explore, and I tend to focus on pushing my abilities further.

 

Although I’m an enthusiastic plein air painter, and a frequent practice of painting field studies does indeed make a world of difference in my studio work, my participation in competitive plein air events has allowed me to discover quite a bit about my own personal creative process.

 

As I’ve observed other plein air painters who excel in these competitive situations, I’ve noticed something interesting. It seems that most of these artists have a particular personality that coincides with these events.

 

First, many of these artists tend to be very outgoing and are quite comfortable chatting with onlookers at plein air events, even while under time constraints and in a competitive environment. Second, I believe the majority of these artists tend to thrive in situations that call for them to think spontaneously.

 

There’s of course some degree of planning in any painting, but with the usual time constraints of field painting, the artist must still make quick decisions on the spot. I’ve always admired my favorite plein air painters who excel at this!

Really in any situation in life, if you put me on the spot and ask me to think fast, the outcome isn’t usually stellar. I don’t typically do as well when I can’t plan ahead of time and am forced to “wing it.”

 

But let’s face it, this is basically what we have to do as plein air painters, since most of us don’t choose our exact subject until we get to a location and see how the light is falling across the landscape.

 

Truthfully, part of me does sort of enjoy this elusive aspect of plein air painting, but turn on the pressure with a competitive situation and additional time constraints, and I might forget how to paint.

 

For those of us, like myself, who excel more in our studio work, rather than competitively in plein air events, we tend to be planners. From my subject selection, to my thumbnail sketches, to my studies, and then to my final decisions in my larger studio work, I take my time in the quiet of my studio to carefully think through each stage. For those artists who excel at working more spontaneously, my creative process might put them to sleep.

 

Consequently, I’ve found that our own unique personalities can often influence how we each achieve our best artistic efforts. So the challenges I mention here are my challenges. You may have these same challenges, and others may find that their creative juices are fired up under different circumstances. I suppose we all have to immerse ourselves in the creative environment that works for each of us individually.

 

I recently went on a painting trip in Montana with a small group of artist friends. It wasn’t part of any event and it wasn’t to teach. I was simply able to paint what inspired me, and I didn’t need to be concerned if it was a wiper. I returned home with several field studies that I was happy with, shown here in this post, and I’m now inspired to explore some of these subjects further in the studio.

 

The longer I’m an artist, the better I understand my own unique creative process and what’s conducive to producing my best work. Of course life gets in the way of ideal circumstances and, as with most professional artists, to make financial ends meet, my schedule is tighter than I’d like.

 

But I can create more room to be my most effective self when I arrange my schedule as best I can to build in time to explore ideas, both in the field and in the studio, without the panic stress of looming deadlines. And without feeling under pressure