An artist who paints as a hobby generally does not need to worry about how fast he paints.
The work is to be savored and dawdling is encouraged.
However, an artist who paints for a living needs to produce his work quickly and efficiently.
The more he can produce in a day, the more he earns per hour.
This may sound mercenary, but it is a financial fact of life. The working artist may paint for pleasure and artistic challenge, as well as to pay the bills. He may create wonderful works of art to enter in exhibitions and competitions. However, these paintings may not be commercially popular to the majority of the public. Therefore, he also needs to create work that the general consumer will be interested in purchasing.
Double-Time
An artist preparing for a craft show or arts festival needs a lot of artwork to put on the shelves or display rack. These items may be one-of-a-kind, but still be very similar in subject or composition. The craftsman should select a theme, decide on the sizes and prepare all the supports. He then sketches various compositions and transfers them to the supports. He plans the general colors of the objects or areas of the paintings and develops a palette.
Mix enough Color
Once he has selected his palette, he should prepare paints in great enough quantities to complete all the paintings. Depending on how large the supports are, paint may need to be mixed in containers instead of on a flat palette. Make sure to mix enough color for the entire series, as producing an exact match to a custom color is very difficult. The artist then proceeds to paint all the supports simultaneously.
If the compositions use the same colorations for the backgrounds, he should paint that first. He then proceeds in a similar fashion with the other areas and objects and complete all the paintings concurrently. This may not be fine art, but he has produced an inventory of products for this customers. Let’s keep this a little secret between artists. There is no need to go explaining the exact method of creation to the public at large.
Mounting and Framing
Mounting and framing should also be done with Henry Ford’s idea of production. Using the same size or sizes for all the works makes framing simpler, faster and more economical. If the painting will also be matted, use a small number of colors, or stick with a single color for the mattes. Producing them all at the same time is more efficient, or if the artist purchases them, bulk orders can save time and money. Use standard sizes for all the work. Standard sizing is less costly than custom mounting, whether made by the artist or purchased in a framing shop.
This personal mass production allows the artist to produce inventories of merchandise for art festivals or Internet sales. Variations on a theme are very popular in home decoration. A shopper may be interested in multiple paintings to be used in a grouping or to unify the look of a space. A themed display has more visual impact than a hodge-podge of beautiful, yet unrelated items. This can draw customers to a booth or cause people to spend more time looking at items on a selling website. Curb appeal is what draws an audience. Quality and interesting work will retain them as customers.
Techniques To Speed Up A Painting
There are plenty of tips you can use to help speed things up. Let’s look at the top 3 paint styles: Oil, Acrylic, and Watercolor.
Oil Painting Tips
An artist who paints in oils can certainly not compare in speed with a watercolorist. Oil paint is slow to dry and requires months of time for it to dry completely. However, the artist can use fast drying mediums to minimize drying time. He can also work in thin coats, and minimize the number of layers of paint he uses. Even so, it will still take some weeks before applying a finish coat of varnish.
Acrylic Painting Tips
When painting with acrylics, the artist can ensure that his paint will dry quickly if he does not use the impasto method. Thin coats of paint dry rapidly and a painting can be completed in one session. Using the paint in a watercolor method reduces the time even further.
Watercolor Painting Tips
Watercolors dry almost instantly, so the only way a watercolorist can reduce painting time is to work in a less detailed manner. Watercolor is ideal for loose, impressionistic style and painting in this manner is fast and fun.
A painting done in excruciating detail can go on being worked over forever. Intricate compositions and details take time, not only to draw and compose, but also to paint. Paint the essence and leave the detail to the observer’s imagination. They have more time than a busy artist does.
Speed up Production
An artist can speed up the production of his work in many ways. This is true whether it is for mass merchandising or to more quickly complete a piece for a juried show. Different methods will apply to different media, although some can be universal for all types of artwork.
Many artists make a living doing art festivals, craft shows and selling on the Internet. This requires producing an inventory of merchandise. A craftsman may need to create dozens of a particular style item. This very time consuming venture requires dedication as well as coming up with a plan that allows the artist to produce enough inventory to earn a living. Being a full-time artist requires being a businessperson as well, and speeding up production time is part of that job.
