An Artist’s Dilemma: So Many Choices…
like a kid in a candy store... so... many... pencils
The photo above represents a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately, “how much is too much?”
For me, though the seemingly infinite choice of pencils above is ponderous, the real question comes only days before departing for my very first artist residency and a proposed work of staggering proportions.
Let me backup a little: an integral part of maintaining one’s balance sheet as an artist comes in the form of grants, or rather, the pursuit of grants, because any artist who has tried can tell you: there are far, far more artists than there are grants to be won. And so we must look beyond the dream grants, those that simply hand the artist funds and say “do whatever you want!”. We must look towards those that offer the artist something less tangible than cold, hard cash: we must look at the residencies. Residencies come in many shapes and sizes, but the one I’m attending offers the artist a room to sleep in and a studio to work in, all whilst surrounded by thankfully few distractions.
The work that I referred to above, and which I hope to start and complete by the time my residency expires is to be a 6ft by 6ft, deeply detailed illustration. I’m nervous: and not because it’s a big drawing, but because I intend to use the same level of detail throughout as I would on a drawing 1ft by 1ft. Forget about needing a new eraser when I’m done: I might need new eyes!
So as I prepare to dive in, I ask myself again, “how much is too much?”
I suspect I’ll be able to tell you in about a month – one way or the other.
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