Your Achilles Heel.

hard to say, if i can't do it i won't, then i'll poke at it until i'm good. i wasn't good at still life, or black and white, hdr was tricky, i'm working with colorizing now (and getting colors right and getting small details in is a pain), but i'm getting better and faster now. i guess my only weak point is doing to good of a job.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

darks..dark colors are something I have to be conscious of when I paint or every painting would be pastel colored...

Always confident, Mike, as you should be.

There are many things I could improve on but for me, it's cast shadows. They are so essential to realism but I have a hard time warping that 2-dimensional perspective around and across things. Messes with my mind...

Motivation. I can go 2 years without doing a single sculpture or I can go 30 days straight in a row and make 30 sculptures. Right now I'm in off mode.

I get that, Melissa. I'm not a fan of the washed out look either. I've heard advice about avoiding pure blacks because they look "dead" or "flat". Where I think there's some truth there, this advice has made me timid to use black at all. Ironic; the more I learn, the less I trust myself. I love black.

" the more I learn, the less I trust myself ".
There ya go Joe, that is the answer. The chink in the armor is the "shoulds" & the " shouldn'ts.
Pure passion, joy and spontaneity get pushed behind and crowded by the musts of design and composition.

I'd like to play more, & think less.

Mario, motivation is difficult to come by, especially with free time being so rare these days. Getting started is always the hardest part for me. After that, ocd kicks in and it's all I can think about.

Janine, you are so right. That is definitely the chink in my armor. I can overthink the joy out of anything.

Joe Burgess
jb-imagery.com

Laziness and self-doubts!

Colin, at first I thought you were just bluntly summarizing my last post but then realized you were just answering the original question. It sounds like we're all generally suffering from the same afflictions... except for Mike of course.

Joe Burgess
jb-imagery.com

The knowledge of so many greater people then myself accomplishing much more at a younger age and the knowledge one can only strive for strands of control. Alexander the great had taken over the known world(or rather the known European/Asian world in his 20's and had died before 30(or a little bit after).Jesus had created a new religion and new philosophy before his death in his early 30s. Although Buddha did not become much before he turned 35 or something so that's a bit hopeful.There are a few people who became something in there upper 20s and 30s or even 40s but most of the world leader's in any field started and became something vary early on. However people do live longer now then in the past.

The other thing is the thought that the thing's I see in my head may never be fully manifested into reality, Or what if I forget one of my idea's and it becomes lost forever.Or perhaps my idea will never become truly manifested in all it's glory and will be created with a sub-par quality. Alternatively what if one of my idea's works to good, manipulates to many people and start's world war 3. Did the people of the past think there name's and idea's would be one day killed over? who knows then again some idea's perhaps should be killed over. Thinking to much may be another one to add to the list.

My shortfall when I create my pieces, is that I cant do the eyes. Yes, yes I tried a many gazillion times but I always end up either my subject is crossed eyes, lopsided, chicken eyes and many an eye failures! If you can observe and have followed and liked my works, all of my subjects are all closed eyes. But I think I have 1 or 2 pieces that has eyes wide opened. Well thats my "Achilles Heels".

Otil, I was about to say the same thing. My subjects are always looking over my shoulder, or they have one lazy eye.

I have another one.,. I have a hard time knowing when to say when. I've ruined pieces by overworking them--not many, but a few--so I worry about that. I slow down towards the end, taking lots of breaks to stand back and look at the piece.

Not a morning person. I just don't have it in me to get up at the crack of dawn.

My continual problem is that when I'm involved creating "art"...I work until I drop.....

When I get back to it the next day, ..paint is dried on the brushes, cured epoxy is all over my tools, spots of just 1 part of 2 part epoxy are all over the place..And that special tool, can't be found..

I'm being told all the time, "When you stop for the night, just spend a little time, cleaning up first"

My response is always, "That's easy for you to say."

Eliminating distractions and knowing when to stop.

Wanting Perfection in My Eye. I sometimes vision something but just can't seem to get it sometimes. Then I end up overworking some of my art & its not at all what i wanted

I agree with a lot of what has been said already.

Like Roger I also work till I drop, when I am working it's like i'm in a daze, hours pass, I don't even know it. When I wake up, i'm starving, dizzy, and all my bones ache lol

I also feel the "The more I learn, the less I trust myself" I love learning about art, but the more I know the more OCD I become, and I become more of a perfectionist. I obsess that something isn't right.

I also go through droughts where I don't create for a while and then when I do I am obsessed, I can't sleep because it's all I can think about. I am grumpy when I have to go to my day job because I want to be home working on my newest piece. It's the ups and downs of being an artist.


My main thing I think is rushing at the start. I will get so exited about a piece that I will just jump right in, and later will discover that something is a little off, that could have been prevented in the beginning. It's much easier to fix things in the beginning than later on, but I always seem to forget that when I am starting a new project lol

Katie Jeans56 Minutes Ago
"Wanting Perfection in My Eye. I sometimes vision something but just can't seem to get it sometimes. Then I end up overworking some of my art & its not at all what i wanted"

Katie, two things that might help:

1- "Perfection is a flawed concept.". I don't remember who said it but I find it's a good quote to keep around.

2- Stop when you think your painting is 80 percent finished. Again, I don't remember who suggested this, but it is a good guide to overcome overworking a piece, don't you think?

BillTomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

Being frustrated with what I'm trying to do in Photoshop and being too lazy to get out the manual. Maybe I'll do that now. I HAD to get out the manual once to finish something, I just need to do it on a regular basis.

An Achilles heel is a fatal flaw, and I think the only real fatal flaw in art is giving up before you even begin. All the rest is just part of the refining process. If something is challenging, do a lot of it until it's not challenging anymore. That's how we grow as artists. I find challenges in every piece that I do, but I learn a heck of a lot in the process.

My achille heel is to paint a sellable or marketable piece. So I don't even go there or try because it truly destroys my mind. A real power struggle

sometimes... i'm just too nice.

i guess that's my weakness.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Thanks Bill Tomsa....I try & coach myself all the time. I will work with those tips you suggested :)

One person last week said she cannot understand the productivity of my work, I produce too much in her view. The downside to production is that it makes one crazy. If I don't fuel my brain for all the projects, I lose my sight literally and I start suffering optical illusions. I have to slow down the process, fuel my brain with only food that helps it and my eyesight as well. I have to get out and jog, lift weights and be healthy which is extremely hard for most artists.

Wow, Don. That was a brilliant example of "over thinking the joy out of everything."

Shana, all of that I can definitely relate to. I am an exhausted temperamental mess when I'm working on a piece.

Mike has no weakness. He is awesomness pure through. The guy has dart boards with his face on it!

Joe Burgess
jb-imagery.com

i catch those darts with my teeth... beware.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Not going too dark with my oils. I use to rush my paintings but have learned to work methodically and not letting go until I am satisfied with the entire painting.

When I was in college drawing class I always dreaded drawing hands and bare feet.

Procrastination, I have a terrible time keeping at it recently, even though I totally enjoy my work. All of it, even non-art work. A lot of the issue is I'm spread way too thin and the combined effect is feeling insurmountable and accomplishing nothing. That gets me to start trying to set priorities and concentration on what's in front of me, instead of keeping up with the flow of my mind. But the artist mind does what the artists mind wants. So I need to figure out how to get behind the ball (dream) again, instead of feeling like the ball is going to flatten me.
-- mary ellen anderson

Awesome, Mary Ellen. Well said. The "dream" can be quite overwhelming and intimidating at times. But it's also the fuel for our creations.

Joe Burgess
jb-imagery.com

MARKETING - yes, I yelled.

I love the results of realistic looking work and I know I can do it however I have no patience for it. It's more marketable and people would rather have that on their walls however I love the freedom of creating intuitively and with more movement. It's a great stress reliever.....

The fear of being to repetitive, Colors subjects whatever. I fight to try to keep the work fresh. There have been many times where this has been a major challenge. I think anyone who can't find somewhere that has a weakness in their work has the problem of poor vision. Looking at your work from a variety of ways helps. Where do you see your art headed? What do you need to do to improve? Keep asking questions and pushing it. If you are too happy with your work and yourself you will stagnate.

Roy, marketing takes a lot of time, which I have a hard time finding.

Jacqueline, I definitely would like to be more carefree. I find that my stress levels increase in proportion to how much time I have invested into a piece. The stakes get higher and higher...

Ronald, making each piece different is something I strive for as well. I do envy people who can whip out a series of similar subject matter, but they are usually not spending a month on each individual piece. I really think I need to try some free-flow impressionism one of these days...

Joe Burgess
jb-imagery.com

Thread bump...

Anyone else willing to expose their greatest artistic weakness?

Joe Burgess
jb-imagery.com

Impatience is my Achilles Heel. I have to keep reminding myself to slow down and look before I move ahead.

Finishing a piece.

enjoying clean up.