Benefits of painting in series

Whether you paint for yourself or to sell your paintings, painting in series has numerous benefits.

 

You might ask what does working in a series mean? It’s creating a number of paintings with a unified theme, that are cohesive and coherent. Some artists may not be aware of the advantages to creating multiple paintings about the same idea, topic or subject matter. 

 

If the Art Tutor gallery is any indication, many recreational artists produce "onesies." Their typical approach goes something like this-- "I'll make one of these, now I'll make one of these, then I'll make one of these," and so on and so forth, resulting in an assortment of work. We are so eager to try out so many things that we jump from one topic to the other.

 

Many of us have the attitude that we paint whatever we feel like making and there's no common thread. Artistic freedom is often a reason quoted for this approach. How much can you possibly learn or benefit from such a brief encounter with a given topic? So why should we consider painting in series?

• You increase your knowledge on the topic or subject within that art;
• You accumulate greater knowledge and experiences from working within a well-defined set of parameters. This allows the artist to expressing himself from a range of different perspectives within those parameters.
• Working in series allows you to nuance your compositions more subtly, paint decisively and with greater ease to provide greater impacts.
• Repeating similar topics allows you to focus on different angles, perspectives, contexts, etc. This type of exploration allows you to improve faster.
• For those looking at art, viewing a series provides a more fulsome experience that informs the viewer. 
• If you participate in art shows/fairs, a series will provide viewers with a more appealing and unified selection of body of art.
• Lastly, practice makes perfect. Ok maybe not perfect but it certainly improves your abilities to paint a certain topic or theme. 

If you have considered working in series to improve your body of work, but prefer to paint different topics, consider working on several series simultaneously. Or take a break from working on a series and make one or two of whatever you want to make; then get back to work on the series.

 

Forcing yourself to maintain a high level of focus and discipline without getting distracted keeps you totally involved in the results. Research any professional artist that you admire and follow their work. You’ll note that in almost all cases, they were able to focus their attention and improve what they do because they worked in series. Think of the number of time any athlete repeats and practices their skills. Those who have hours of practice tend to have better results. The same applies to many disciplines such as writers, musicians, etc.

 

This weeks artist find is Brynn Caroll.

 

Have a great week,

Danielle