As I wrote in my last post I am participating in a show at a local museum featuring modern interpretations of works in the museum’s permanent collection. The etching I selected is of a demure girl of her time by William Paxton titled Portuguese Girl. In response to the etching I decided to paint a demure woman, but of the modern ilk and a Boston Red Sox fan to boot!

People often ask me how long a painting takes. I try to give it a range. Someone once suggested I work in a public setting. Yikes! I think watching me paint would be like, well, watching paint dry. Pretty boring. But I decided to try something different and have created a short video (four minutes long) shot in time lapse that shows about 85% of the work. 

Being my first attempt at self-direction, it’s a rather crude product. The tripod kept falling down. And then I’d forget to turn the camera on. My head gets in the way all the time. Oh well. But it was a rather interesting process. You see, it had an unexpected motivating factor…I found myself painting faster!

Since I keep a worklog of my studio time, I can affirm that indeed this painting took about 25% less time than other pieces of the same size and subject matter. Woo Hoo! Maybe this will be my new motivating tool!

I hope you enjoy getting a little glimpse into the studio. I present to you In The Studio: American Woman, 24 hours in four minutes.