Another lifelong habit I have is working on several–sometimes very many–painting simultaneously. I will put a painting aside to be taken up later any number of times. I might work on a painting a dozen times or more. The net effect, alas, is that it sometimes takes a long time to finish a painting.
This recent photo of my studio illustrates this point. You see a small selection of paintings currently “under construction.” Many others, some very large, are outside the picture frame. The paintings are arrayed so I can see/study them. An important part of making paintings is looking at them. Picasso was reported to have said that he became an artist in order to have paintings to look at, and in a basic sense, I think this is true for all artists.
A few words about my current studio. The space itself is sufficiently large enough (barely) to accommodate two easels and the rest of my gear but, as you can see, the ceiling is too low. And while there is northern light, there are no skylights. My last studio was in a detached building and had skylights; this studio is in a back room of my house, so no skylight.
This studio does have some redeeming features. The bank of north-facing windows looks over Lake Erie, which you can see from this photo.
