Better Than the Whole

What is your Eye like?

It’s a valid question, do you see the world in wide screen or do you focus on the tiny details?

As an artist it is important to identify this part of vision. If you don’t know how you see how can you select the subject which best fits your Eye.

Me, I’ve made no secret of how I see, I like people and details. But maybe that’s not what your Eye sees. Do you like scenes of gentle streams flowing over broken rocks or waves crashing against the shore? Did you participate in the Fish/Fishing Art Show; are you going to enter the Thunder at CAM show? Why not?

It’s all about how you see. Motorcycles may not appeal to every artist as a worthwhile subject. Maybe you have a whole trunk full of negative stereotypes about motorcycles and the folks who ride them. Widen your view; find the image which suits your Eye. Like brilliant colors, try thinking about the tank on a bike, or the helmets, like complex patterns, the exhaust system on most bikes would give Escher a headache.

The men and women who buy and ride the metal monsters come in all shapes and sizes, some beautiful and some well less so, but they all have faces which hold the story of their lives etched there for the thoughtful artist to capture.

You’re a plein air painter and don’t do subjects who flit about like dragonflies skimming the waters. Try the downtown Harley shop, you can’t flit there, no you have to be a serious buyer and that means parking your bike. But ask first just like you would in any other situation.

The range of subjects is vast and the choices would make, well they’d make just about anyone cross their eyes. That’s what is so important about finding your Eye. Once you know what you like and what you want as the subject of your work you can focus that laser-like vision and produce your best projects.

And if you know what you like and are likely to focus on, you can do the opposite and break your habit pattern. You can vary your choice of subjects and find wonder in many things instead of just one. Like I said, I like people and details and spend most of my time trying to find interesting faces and minute details I can turn into the basis of my work. But I also make time to see the “Big Picture” and do landscapes and seascapes.

If you are still searching for your Eye, how can you possibly find a new and wonderful image to work with? Ya can’t and thems the facts. Find what you see with your Eye and then do the opposite. You’ll always come back to what you love. But by venturing off at a new way of seeing you might find a thing worth a second or third look.