OK, I goofed off yesterday, and didn’t get any painting done so this is still just Day 9. I spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about how the project is going. It is rather dismaying to see all this technological apparatus being used on such a small audience. I suspect this experiment has gone astray somehow, but at least I’m gathering some info on how to make it work. I think I’m working in the wrong medium, when I work in oil paint I’ll work for hours, but with tempera, I can only work for a few minutes and then everything gets wet and I have to stop. I suspect that people would be more interested in actually seeing an artist at work, so perhaps I should schedule a specific time each day so people could check in and watch. Or perhaps another approach is needed. The video stream is insufficient to see just what I’m painting, and that’s not going to change how I paint. Perhaps I need a high-rez webcam, just showing a still image every hour or so, to see more detail and allow viewers to see what is changing in the painting.
But I suspect there is a more fatal flaw in this experiment. Watching an artist paint is sort of like watching someone do menial work, it’s boring. It’s dirty and messy, and hard work over the long haul. The public only sees the end result, an attractive image, but they don’t have any understanding of the days of work and thought behind an image. I guess if people are bored by watching me paint, then the experiment has found its message. Real painting isn’t like watching Picasso or Pollock doing a staged performace for the camera, with all the boring parts edited out. This is live, and real. Follow the experiment over time and see what happens.
I see your painting.
My hub lights are blinking, so it appears that the picture is updating continuously.