#1.
In January 2009 I sat down to do some drawing as my daughter played, and as I worked I thought wouldn’t it be great to try to do a drawing a day.
#10.
By the time I had done ten drawings they had started to become more complex, and incorporated collage into the drawing, and in most cases had actually come to be paintings rather than drawings.
I decided to keep the works within a general format of 12×12 inches, and though a few are smaller than 12×12 inches none are larger than this size. I guess I chose 12×12 inches for the simple reason that I like the dimension of one square foot, and also I had discovered beautiful boxes to store them in.
#100.
The next step was to set myself a goal beyond merely doing a painting a day, and I decided to do 100. I thought this would be a good number, and it offered a bit of a challenge. Early on, I realized that the series really was about setting myself a work goal, and trying to test myself. I wanted something that I really would have to work at and that would take a combination of time, energy, and mental stamina.
The surprising thing was that it was relatively easy to make 100 12×12 inch paintings, and I had enjoyed doing the work so much I wanted to continue. So I set myself a challenge of doing 1000 12×12 inch mixed media paintings. I decided it would be all about doing the work. I wouldn’t worry if one didn’t work out. I wouldn’t worry if I repeated myself. I wouldn’t worry if they were ugly. I would just work.
My mark.
I also decided I would try to limit the marks I would use, and in many there are a simple cross hatch patterns that I came to think of as My mark. At the time I also thought of them as my crutch, and they helped carry me through to the end.
Ring.
I also started creating what I came to consider marks of contrivance, where I would try to create a spill of ink or paint with the intention of it having the appearance of an accidental mark. I also used an ink ring mark created by dipping a cup into ink and placing it casually on the paper, and once again I would do this with the intention of creating the illusion of an accident.
Splat.
As the series progressed the materials I used changed. I started out using fine art papers, but as I combined more elements of collage I started using different papers. I took apart books and glued pages of them onto large sheets that I would then cut into 12×12 inch sheets. My young daughter also became part of the process. I would give her pastels, pens, ink, and paint and ask her to work on large sheets of paper. I would then cut these into 12×12 inch sheets and would work on them myself leaving elements of my daughter’s work visible in combination with my own.
#500.
Where doing 100 paintings was relatively easy, doing 200 was much harder. The middle of the project was actually the hardest part, and by the time I had completed 500 I was getting a bit loopy, and I was wondering if I might have gone a bit overboard in setting a goal of 1000 paintings.
#1000.
This week I completed the series, and afterwards I felt the inevitable sensation of loss. What’s next is on my mind, and though I have started a new painting on canvas I can’t help feeling the urge to start another large series. What it will be is not yet clear, and that is the fun part.
Painter's Progress 