“We tend to value, and even idealize, the idea of seeing things through, of finishing things rather than abandoning them. Giving up has to be justified in a way that completion does not; giving up doesn’t usually make us proud of ourselves; it is a falling short of our preferred selves… Giving up, in other words, is usually thought of as a failure rather than a way of succeeding at something else. It is worth wondering to whom we believe we have to justify ourselves when we are giving up, or when we are determinedly not giving up.”
Pychoanalyst Adam Phillips, “On Giving Up, quoted in The Marginalian by Maria Popova
Painting or drawing with a time limit is a way to learn to be reconciled with results that aren’t what you’d do in “however long it takes” time. Such as when pleinair painting or in a life drawing setting. A drawing from a one-minute pose is going to differ from a five- or 10-minute pose, nevermind an hour. With sixty seconds you can’t faff about, you have to decide, draw, and stop just as you get going. The decision to give up, or stop, is removed from the artist.
When we’ve used more time and materials in a piece it’s harder to admit to ourselves that it’s time to start something else. The words we use focus on the piece that’s to be set aside tend to be negative: give up, abandoned, failed drawing, a dud. What if we rather gave ourselves permission to treat this as “it is what it is” piece and trying again with that optimism inherent in a pristine piece of paper.
One of the things I enjoy with monotype printing is that there’s an uncertainty in the outcome. What I’ve done in the ink isn’t the only variable; if the paper is too wet the ink will smear, or dry and it doesn’t transfer as well as it might. That I can’t entirely control it means I am absolved of the results. Even more so with ghost prints, the second print done with leftover ink.
Earlier in the year, I tried some 60-second drawings:
https://chrislt.art/60-second-drawings/
Very basic, but they had a certain quality that I liked.
I agree, though I would say “contains the essence” of the subject, rather than “basic”.
Thanks! That’s in line with what another commenter said. :)