Post by Byrne on Mar 7, 2008 16:40:24 GMT -5
I have found that from time to time I will lose interest in a piece of art work I have started. Perhaps it’s a new project that I think will be more important to my creative growth or another project all together outside of the artistic world. More often then not it is simply that life gets in the way and I am obliged to set the work aside for a time with every intention of returning to it some time in the future. So the piece is placed off to the side of my art desk and the new project begins.
Time goes by as I work diligently on this new idea that has so rudely taken the place of the other piece, the old piece. Days fall by, then weeks. The new idea is completed and the old piece is pushed further and further to the outside edge of my desk. I see it there still, but it’s become more a part of the surroundings then a piece of art. From time to time I see it there and I say to my self, I really need to get that out and finish it. But there it stays as more pressing matters are attended to. Months come and go turning time into years as the old piece becomes lost in a heap of completed art works. Soon it is forgotten, lost from view but still concealed someplace in the back of my head.
Then comes the day when I decide to get organized, I take the pile of art from off my desk and begin looking through it. I look for pieces that would make good additions to my portfolio. Moving down through the art starting at the top of the pile then to the middle, I find completed work after completed work. Some are better then others but most get placed in a box that I have set aside for works that are not up to my own standers or are simply works I did for fun or practice. A few works get placed in a binder for use in a portfolio. Then as I take away the last completed work I find it, that old piece that I started so very long ago. My first thought is that I had forgotten all about it! But then I remind my self, no, you didn’t for get it, you’ve always had it there in your head asking to be finished. There I sit with the old piece as I look it over, pondering what I would do to finish it. If I try to finish it will I be able to or has it been to long. Have I lost the inspiration that I once had for the piece? If I try to finish it now will I simply be making it worse or could I really bring it back to life and give it the same look of completion that so many other pieces have received by my hand. These questions are familiar to many of use that have spent time in art.
There is a feeling of uneasiness that can come when taking up the idea of working on an unfinished piece from the past. It’s almost as if the work is done and that now, years later, I would add to it. For most any artiest this would be wrong. I don’t think I have ever met an artiest that feels like it is a good idea to add to a completed work from years ago. When it’s done it’s done and adding to it at a later date would be like trying to improve on the drawings that you did as a child now that you’re an adult. It is typically about this time when I decided that the old unfinished piece is really not unfinished at all. In fact it is a great representation of my skill and dedication during the time that I drew it.
I wonder if Joe has similar feelings in regards to Battle Chasers. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he dose and I would not be the least bit upset. I know what it feels like and I would not expect any other artiest to go against that feeling just so that I could enjoy the art work. Art is a very personal thing. It provides the artiest with a way to express them self. However, art is unique in that, we then give our feelings (our art work) over to others to enjoy and in some cases ridicule and mock. I know that Joe will do what he wants to with the BC series because it is his to decide. Never forget that comic artists are just like you and me. They have a desire to put there thoughts and feelings to paper as we do. In the case of battle chasers, Joe has taken something that is very personal to him, something that he had wanted to do from the time he was a kid and made it into a reality for all of use. If he decides to complete it great, if he doesn’t, well that’s fine with me to.
Byrne
Time goes by as I work diligently on this new idea that has so rudely taken the place of the other piece, the old piece. Days fall by, then weeks. The new idea is completed and the old piece is pushed further and further to the outside edge of my desk. I see it there still, but it’s become more a part of the surroundings then a piece of art. From time to time I see it there and I say to my self, I really need to get that out and finish it. But there it stays as more pressing matters are attended to. Months come and go turning time into years as the old piece becomes lost in a heap of completed art works. Soon it is forgotten, lost from view but still concealed someplace in the back of my head.
Then comes the day when I decide to get organized, I take the pile of art from off my desk and begin looking through it. I look for pieces that would make good additions to my portfolio. Moving down through the art starting at the top of the pile then to the middle, I find completed work after completed work. Some are better then others but most get placed in a box that I have set aside for works that are not up to my own standers or are simply works I did for fun or practice. A few works get placed in a binder for use in a portfolio. Then as I take away the last completed work I find it, that old piece that I started so very long ago. My first thought is that I had forgotten all about it! But then I remind my self, no, you didn’t for get it, you’ve always had it there in your head asking to be finished. There I sit with the old piece as I look it over, pondering what I would do to finish it. If I try to finish it will I be able to or has it been to long. Have I lost the inspiration that I once had for the piece? If I try to finish it now will I simply be making it worse or could I really bring it back to life and give it the same look of completion that so many other pieces have received by my hand. These questions are familiar to many of use that have spent time in art.
There is a feeling of uneasiness that can come when taking up the idea of working on an unfinished piece from the past. It’s almost as if the work is done and that now, years later, I would add to it. For most any artiest this would be wrong. I don’t think I have ever met an artiest that feels like it is a good idea to add to a completed work from years ago. When it’s done it’s done and adding to it at a later date would be like trying to improve on the drawings that you did as a child now that you’re an adult. It is typically about this time when I decided that the old unfinished piece is really not unfinished at all. In fact it is a great representation of my skill and dedication during the time that I drew it.
I wonder if Joe has similar feelings in regards to Battle Chasers. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he dose and I would not be the least bit upset. I know what it feels like and I would not expect any other artiest to go against that feeling just so that I could enjoy the art work. Art is a very personal thing. It provides the artiest with a way to express them self. However, art is unique in that, we then give our feelings (our art work) over to others to enjoy and in some cases ridicule and mock. I know that Joe will do what he wants to with the BC series because it is his to decide. Never forget that comic artists are just like you and me. They have a desire to put there thoughts and feelings to paper as we do. In the case of battle chasers, Joe has taken something that is very personal to him, something that he had wanted to do from the time he was a kid and made it into a reality for all of use. If he decides to complete it great, if he doesn’t, well that’s fine with me to.
Byrne
