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To Track Or Not To Track

About 8 years ago, I began tracking my time because I was feeling overwhelmed by the constant demands of daily life. As many people have learned this year (because of Covid-19), working at home is hard – especially when when your family members are also working and studying at home. It’s easy to get to the end of the day without having done what you needed to do, and then wonder where the time went. But if you track your time then you know exactly where it went, and you can spot patterns and make adjustments. The most important thing I’ve figured out is that my time follows my attention, and that I have (a least a little) control over where my attention goes.

For example, one of my biggest time-sinks has been reading blogs by intelligent and interesting people. This is an activity I really enjoy and value when it is rewarding, but I found that not only did I spend far too much time doing it, I kept doing it even when it wasn’t rewarding. So I tracked which blogs I read and how I felt after each reading session, then unsubscribed from the mailing lists of the blogs that didn’t make me feel consistently fantastic. Then I only visited them when I had a little extra time and wondered what they were up to, instead of when I should have been painting or working on a grant application but got distracted by the email prompt. By the time I checked in with the blogs, there were usually several new posts to choose from, and I would only read the ones I was actually interested in. This was so effective that I also unsubscribed from the mailing lists of the blogs that did make me feel consistently fantastic, and I started reading those ones on my own schedule as well. This simple switch from following a prompt to making a conscious choice not only saved me time, it also improved my experience of reading blog posts.

Almost all my time-sinks were online, and could be dealt with in a similar way to what I described above. Cooking fancier food than necessary was my only substantial analog time waster, so I worked out a way to be more efficient and adopted an eat-to-live attitude with fancy cooking as a rare treat instead of a daily indulgence.

Now I’m pretty good at not wasting my time, and I’m starting to wonder if tracking my time is a good use of my time. It can be tedious to log in and out of every single activity, and while I still need to know how much time I spend painting or doing other art related administrative tasks, I probably don’t need to track every moment of every day.

So I stopped.

Since the beginning of November, I’ve only been tracking my work activities, and it’s been really interesting. I feel a sense of relief at not having to pick up my phone every time I switch activities, and find that I check other things on my phone less often because of it.

I’ve also noticed that I feel more pressure to get in front of my easel now that my time log only shows work time. Before, if I had a day with no red bars (painting time), I could look and see what else I did – which gave me an excuse of sorts. That day I did the shopping, or I had to XYZ. But now the empty space stares back at me like an accusation, and each day when I wonder what to do next I’m reminded of how good it will feel to put a little red bar on my log, and how bad it will look if it’s empty.

This is what my time log looks like when I’m only tracking art related activities. Red is painting, pink is admin, fuchsia is studio work that isn’t painting (stretching/priming canvas, etc) (and the grey should be fuchsia, I made a mistake).

For comparison, this is what my time log looked like the previous month when I was still tracking all my activities.

I’ve decided to stick with this pared back tracking for one year, then assess how things went. If I’m unsatisfied with my artistic output, or if the time I spend painting is significantly lower than the previous year, I may go back to tracking everything. If not, I’ll go another year and see what happens. Maybe by then I’ll have something else that needs improvement, and I’ll track it until I’m in control.

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New Small Paintings on Etsy

*edit 07/24/21* The Etsy experiment is over and I will only post works there by request. I will continue to post new works for sale in my Saatchi Art shop.

I’m experimenting with selling new small works in my Etsy shop. I’ve posted 20 each 8×10 inch paintings from Series 31, which is still in progress with 20 more canvases that I hope to finish by the beginning of 2021.

I paint these stretched on board with masking tape, then store them in an archival box with layers of interleaving paper, just like I did with Series 30. These ones are smaller in size, and the canvas I’m using is pre-primed with absorbent ground gesso. The smooth, absorbent surface takes the paint in a way that is similar to watercolor paper – and this has had a dramatic effect on the final outcome of the paintings. Here are some examples of the watercolor like effect:

And here are some examples of what the paintings look like once they are stretched and framed:

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New Work 2020

I just added four new series (67 works in total!) to my portfolio website.

Series 30 has 50 each 16×20 inch works on canvas. These were all stretched on board with masking tape and bulldog clips for painting, and are now stored in an archival box with PH-neutral interleaving paper. The image quality on these is amazing because I documented them with a flatbed scanner. I’ve also started posting them for sale in my online store, and will continue to upload new ones over the next couple of months. This is what they look like once they are stretched and framed:

Flying Heart, Series 30 #13
The Thinker, Series 30 #28

Series 29 has five each 4×6 foot canvases. The photos don’t do justice to the originals because I had to provisionally document them with my phone camera, but I will have them properly documented by my favorite local professional photographer as soon as it is safe to do so. I also made a time-lapse video of Series 29 #1.

Series 28 was a big commission for the lobby of a residential apartment building on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. There are two paintings in total, though one is a triptych (made up of three canvases hung close together as a group). I hope to have installation photos in the near future, and will do a full post on the commission then.

Series 27 was a fun commission of six small works for a private collector. They sent me their favorite images of my existing works and a very loose set of parameters: a size, a substrate, and a desire to see something recognizable in each image (ie: not pure abstraction), along with the words “minimal”, “colorful”, and “whimsical”. I otherwise had complete freedom, and made ten new works from which they could choose six for the commission.

These are the images of my existing artworks they wanted the new works to emulate:

These these are the six new works they chose:

And these are the other four, which I continued to work on after the commission was completed:

All the work can be seen on my portfolio website.

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How To Document Medium-sized Artworks Using A Standard A4 Scanner and Free Panoramic Photo Software

Documenting artwork is tricky. I hire a local professional photographer to capture my large scale paintings, but most of my work is small enough to document using an A4 scanner. In this post I use an Epson V37 to scan a 20 x 24 inch piece of canvas in 8 sections, then stitch them together using Microsoft’s free Image Composite Editor.

Final image of the scanned and stitched work from Series 30

I align one corner of the work in a corner of the scanner, place a light weight book on top of it to keep it flat, cover it all with a piece of dark fabric (I use black felt but anything that blocks the light will do), and take a preview scan.

In professional mode, I set the document type to reflective, the exposure type to photo, the image type to 24-bit color, and the resolution to 600 dpi (300 is probably more than enough, and any higher than 600 will make ridiculously huge and heavy files).


For scan section #1, I’ve aligned the scan window (the dotted rectangle) with the corner of the work. The scan window will need to be realigned every time I change from a corner to a middle scan, a middle to a corner scan, or a corner to a corner scan.

In this case, I’ve set the document size to 8 x 11-1/2 inches, which is marginally smaller than the scanner bed size and gives me 1-1/2 inches of overlap on my rows. It’s better to make the scan window smaller if you can, because the light changes as the work lifts off the scanner bed where it overlaps, leaving a shadow in the scan (which is more noticeable on white paper than raw canvas).

The first time I press Scan, I choose a destination folder for my scan sections by selecting Other and then Browse… All subsequent scans will go to this folder, and the system will automatically number them as I continue.

I’m scanning series 30, so I set the file same to start with 30_ and let the system number the sections automatically.

I click OK to scan the work, then move it across to scan the next section. The canvas is 24 inches wide, so I will scan each row in 4 sections of 8 inches each. The stitching software performs best when the sections are evenly distributed across the work, so I try to move it the same distance for each new scan. The face of the artwork is actually touching the scanner glass at this point, so I am extremely careful while manipulating it’s position. I also remember to use the book and the black felt for each scan section.

I made a ruler jig out of card stock to use as a guide as I move the work between each scan. From this position for scan section #1, I move it to the next position by picking it up at about the 3 inch mark and gently moving it across to the 8 inch mark.
This is scan section #2, a middle section, so I’ve moved the scan window to the center of the preview screen. Note how the preview scan has the work at the bottom of the screen but the photo of the scanner above has the work aligned at the top – preview scans help get the window positioning right for each new scan.

After scanning my two middle sections, I move the scan window to align with the corner of the work.

Scan section #4, with the scan window aligned with the corner of the work.

Now I move the work (and the scan window) vertically, to start a new row of 4 sections.

Scan section # 5, the first scan of the second row, with the scan window moved up and aligned with the corner of the work.
Scan section #6 with the scan window centered. I will leave the window in place for scan section #7, which is also a middle section.
The 8th and final scan, with the scan window aligned with the corner.

Now it’s time to open the ICE software, and select New Panorama from images. I navigate to the folder with my scans and select all the sections for this work.

Image Composite Editor new Panorama from images
The Auto overlap function works great most of the time, but if there is a lot of empty space in the work it can’t always judge distances and I have to go back and play with the overlap levels.

I select Structured panorama and set the camera motion to Planar motion. Then I click on the initial corner and direction to set up the layout. If it doesn’t align, I check to make sure that I have the right number of columns, and either Serpentine or Zigzag selected for the image order, depending on how I took the scans. In this post I used Serpentine order, meaning that I went in one direction for the first row and then back the other direction for the second row. I select Auto overlap then go to the top and click Stitch.

After it has stitched, I turn it right side up by typing in 180, 90, or -90 degrees.

After I’ve fixed the orientation, I click Crop.

I’ve dragged the crop window right to the edge of my work because this will eventually be stretched on wooden bars and the extra canvas will be wrapped around the edges/back.

After I’ve cropped the work, I click Export, and save a copy of the file as a full sized tiff, a medium jpeg, and a small web jpeg. Re-exporting the file at different sizes now is far quicker than re-opening it later. Most artist submissions require a file that is close to the medium jpeg, and while it’s important to have the larger tiffs for printing, it’s good to have a light weight image file that is quick to open and work with, as well as small copies for email/internet uses .

First I export the file as a full size tiff, saving it into a folder with the other stitched scans in this series.
I export a medium sized jpeg by setting the size to 25% and selecting Superb quality, then export a small jpeg by setting the height to 800 pixels and selecting High quality.

When I close Image Composite Editor, I discard the project because I’ve already saved the tiff and jpeg files. I also go into the scan section folder and permanently delete the section scans to save space on my hard-drive. I keep several copies of all the full sized tiffs in several places because once these works are sold this is all I have left of them (and we all know that computers sometimes go to computer heaven at inconvenient times).

A close-up detail from the full sized tiff file at actual pixel size. (Wow, right?)

This scan and stitch method is fairly straightforward as long as one side of the artwork is no larger than 20 inches, so it can be scanned in two rows, both of which align with an edge of the scanner to keep the work level. I have used this method with larger works on paper, which required three rows of scans, but it was very difficult to keep the alignment on the center row. That said, it can be done if you are extremely patient, meticulous, and willing to create a raised jig-like structure around your scanner with guidelines to keep the work level as you move the middle row, and also to support the part of the work not directly on the scanner bed. If I ever perfect this technique I will make a post about it.

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What I’m Working On During The Covid-19 Pandemic

With my 2020 exhibition and residency plans cancelled or indefinitely postponed, and my storage area overflowing with completed 4×6 foot canvases from my 2018-19 grant year with the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, I abandoned my plan of continuing to work large scale and decided to paint on small canvases. It was a hard decision to make because I was just starting to feel comfortable with my new larger-than-life substrates, but it was the right thing to do. My single most important goal as an artist is to Always Be Working, and this has allowed me to stay engaged and productive.

I stretch the canvas onto boards with tape and bulldog clips, carefully measuring the painting surface so it can be re-stretched on 16×20 inch bars later. When I complete a painting, I sign it, isolation coat it, remove it from the board, and store it in an archival box with a layer of glassine between each work.

  • stretched on board
  • works in progress
  • archival storage box

It’s very similar to my process of working on paper, and even to my early process of working in Moleskine books, not only because of the size and the documentarian aspect, but also because I’m using clear gesso, which leaves a lovely cream colored background from which I can brighten with white. I also decided to sign them like the works on paper, with only my initials on the front, because of their small size.

Here are a few completed canvases:

My plan is to do a series of at least 50 canvases by the end of 2020, then scan or professionally photograph them so they can be added to both my portfolio website and my online store. Depending on how the year progresses, I may do another series of them in 2021.

This is my favorite work of the series so far:

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Motivational Time Tracking

I keep track of my time by logging in and out of my activities. I give each session a value rating from 1-5, based on whether it felt like a good use of my time – except when I’m signed into working on an artwork, then the value rating is based on my confidence level for the work in progress. I do this on my desktop and on my phone, and the interface looks like this:

Once the session is open, I use the >Now button to sign out, enter a rating by selecting one of the five dots, sometimes type a note in the next field, and then click the Submit button. The system will not let me submit without a rating, but typing a note is optional. I use the notes to add information, like what exactly I did to my artwork, or what book/article I was reading.

When I look back at how I’ve been spending my time, I see this color coded chart with one line per day:


The colors represent groupings of similar activities so that I can read them at a glance. They break down like this:

red = painting
pinks = administrative or studio work that is not painting
dark blue = family time (meals, conversations, bedtime, outings, etc)
green = housework (cooking, cleaning, shopping, gardening, etc)
yellow = reading (books or on the internet)
orange = exercise (walking, working out, playing ping pong)
teal = other random things (napping, watching videos)
purple = socializing (visits, phone calls, messages, etc)

This week last year, I can see that I spent a lot more time doing studio work (building/stretching canvases) than painting, and I also had longer socializing sessions (in person!!!):

Before I tracked my time digitally, I kept a written log. Here are some examples from previous years:

Why do I do this? Because being self employed is hard. Without a boss, a teacher, or even a coworker, I am the only person who will ever know (or care) what I am doing to meet my goals. Tracking my time keeps me motivated, keeps me working, and (most importantly) keeps me honest. If I didn’t get into the studio, or didn’t finish that grant application, at least I know exactly what it was I did instead. I then have a choice: I can adjust my behavior to match my perception of myself as someone working hard to meet my goals, or I can adjust my perception of myself to match my true behavior.

Thankfully, I haven’t had to change my perception of myself in relation to how I spend my time. One thing that works to my advantage is that the very act of tracking changes behavior. It happens to everyone to some extent – start tracking your steps and you will favor the stairs over the elevator, start tracking your calories and you will think twice about eating that doughnut, start tracking your time and you will probably get to work.

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Time-lapse video and painting session log

I keep track of my painting sessions with a time log, I use a simple sign in – sign out system with a place for a note. This allows me to see how long I spend on each work, and how much of that time is actually painting, testing ideas, or just staring at it while I think. I also track my confidence level by giving each session a value rating from 1 to 5. At the end of each painting session I take a photo. The following video show all the photos from my most recent 4 by 6 foot painting. (Scroll down to see the log of painting sessions.)

In the log below, the first number on the left is my confidence rating. This is entered as I sign out of that work session (the system won’t submit the session without the rating) and is an immediate emotional response to how I think the painting is progressing. The general breakdown is: 1 = I hate it, 2 = I dislike it, 3 = I don’t know, 4 = I like it, 5 = I love it. The following fields are the date, time I signed out, total minutes in the session, and my note.

5 19 Nov 2019 10:35 9 mins Plan first marks
5 20 Nov 2019 9:12 70 mins 1st mark, looks like a turkey
4 20 Nov 2019 10:44 29 mins Test figure
4 21 Nov 2019 8:55 14 mins Test figure
4 21 Nov 2019 9:41 41 mins Test figure
3 21 Nov 2019 13:38 8 mins Think
4 22 Nov 2019 8:29 23 mins Test figure
4 22 Nov 2019 9:14 37 mins Test figure
5 24 Nov 2019 8:43 10 mins Test figure
4 24 Nov 2019 9:21 34 mins Test figure
4 24 Nov 2019 10:27 47 mins Test wings
4 25 Nov 2019 9:02 20 mins Think
4 25 Nov 2019 9:37 24 mins Test
4 25 Nov 2019 10:04 24 mins Test legs down and new wing
5 25 Nov 2019 10:19 7 mins Images
5 25 Nov 2019 11:18 46 mins Test bottom wing folded and tail over head
4 25 Nov 2019 19:45 35 mins Test
4 26 Nov 2019 8:48 28 mins Test
4 26 Nov 2019 9:04 15 mins Test
4 26 Nov 2019 10:45 64 mins Test
4 26 Nov 2019 18:31 21 mins Test
4 26 Nov 2019 18:49 15 mins Think
3 27 Nov 2019 9:08 42 mins Paint turkey
5 27 Nov 2019 9:35 21 mins Images legs
3 27 Nov 2019 10:22 41 mins Paint turkey
3 27 Nov 2019 11:14 14 mins Think
3 27 Nov 2019 11:46 20 mins Splatter images
3 27 Nov 2019 14:25 38 mins Paint sky
3 27 Nov 2019 17:03 40 mins Paint legs
3 28 Nov 2019 10:23 27 mins Paint figure
3 28 Nov 2019 11:07 7 mins
3 29 Nov 2019 9:02 19 mins Think
3 29 Nov 2019 10:23 47 mins Test figure
3 29 Nov 2019 10:37 11 mins Older drawings for reference
3 29 Nov 2019 11:34 49 mins Test figure add wing and heart
5 29 Nov 2019 14:27 26 mins Images of turkey wings
4 29 Nov 2019 15:50 47 mins Test wrap wing halo
4 30 Nov 2019 9:00 46 mins Test wing and lower arm
4 30 Nov 2019 9:42 32 mins Test land
3 1 Dec 2019 9:23 70 mins Paint yellow
3 3 Dec 2019 9:05 35 mins Paint near horizon
5 3 Dec 2019 10:32 74 mins Paint
3 3 Dec 2019 11:34 33 mins Test tail
3 3 Dec 2019 15:49 46 mins Test wing feathers
3 3 Dec 2019 19:48 62 mins Paint sand
3 4 Dec 2019 8:38 16 mins Test wings
2 4 Dec 2019 10:31 32 mins Test new wing and tail,
2 4 Dec 2019 11:15 27 mins Feel bad about abandoning prev idea but afraid looks like appropriation
3 4 Dec 2019 12:50 75 mins Think
3 4 Dec 2019 13:19 26 mins Feeling better about turning into peacock
3 5 Dec 2019 8:40 31 mins Paint
3 5 Dec 2019 10:18 69 mins Paint sky sand
3 5 Dec 2019 11:28 10 mins Paint sand
3 5 Dec 2019 14:39 34 mins Paint
3 5 Dec 2019 16:07 39 mins Paint sky
3 5 Dec 2019 17:33 17 mins Paint
3 5 Dec 2019 19:40 55 mins Paint sand sky
3 7 Dec 2019 10:45 56 mins Paint sky
5 8 Dec 2019 10:30 21 mins Paint sky
3 10 Dec 2019 8:50 40 mins Prep to paint bird
3 10 Dec 2019 9:23 11 mins Bird illustration books
3 10 Dec 2019 9:40 17 mins Mix paint for bird
3 10 Dec 2019 10:35 48 mins Paint bird
3 10 Dec 2019 14:13 30 mins Paint bird
3 11 Dec 2019 9:07 47 mins Paint bird
3 11 Dec 2019 9:31 22 mins Peacock images
3 11 Dec 2019 10:20 47 mins Test bird head and fig
3 11 Dec 2019 16:48 49 mins Test figure
2 11 Dec 2019 17:22 30 mins Paint bird, getting discouraged about figure
2 12 Dec 2019 9:15 51 mins If I had another canvas ready I would take a break
3 12 Dec 2019 13:15 32 mins Paint bird, feeling better about smaller head
3 12 Dec 2019 13:32 16 mins Paint sky
3 12 Dec 2019 14:11 12 mins Paint bird
2 12 Dec 2019 17:33 54 mins Test figure this is not going to work
3 13 Dec 2019 11:14 25 mins test new figure
2 13 Dec 2019 12:00 36 mins Test multiple figures
3 13 Dec 2019 15:21 39 mins Test figure w legs
3 13 Dec 2019 15:36 8 mins Just legs
3 13 Dec 2019 18:20 17 mins Test legs, better without faces
3 15 Dec 2019 9:51 38 mins Test fork and rope
3 15 Dec 2019 11:07 11 mins Paint bird
3 15 Dec 2019 15:30 26 mins Test fork and knife
4 15 Dec 2019 15:58 22 mins Test arms for legs, liking this better
4 16 Dec 2019 10:06 46 mins Test arms and rope
3 16 Dec 2019 11:28 74 mins Paint land
3 18 Dec 2019 9:09 61 mins Paint land
3 18 Dec 2019 16:05 44 mins Paint ground
3 18 Dec 2019 16:21 13 mins Paint land
3 19 Dec 2019 10:05 53 mins Paint
3 19 Dec 2019 10:05 45 mins paint land
3 20 Dec 2019 9:12 9 mins Paint
3 20 Dec 2019 9:40 18 mins Paint land
3 20 Dec 2019 15:36 29 mins Paint
3 22 Dec 2019 9:14 23 mins Paint blue
5 22 Dec 2019 10:05 22 mins Paint yellow glaze
3 22 Dec 2019 10:24 19 mins Paint can Duke glaze
3 22 Dec 2019 17:12 22 mins Paint glaze and blue
3 23 Dec 2019 19:52 27 mins Paint glaze and blue
3 24 Dec 2019 9:14 56 mins Paint white
3 24 Dec 2019 10:05 46 mins Paint white
3 24 Dec 2019 11:41 23 mins Paint white
3 24 Dec 2019 15:34 34 mins Paint white
3 24 Dec 2019 16:28 28 mins Paint white
3 27 Dec 2019 10:05 64 mins Paint white
3 27 Dec 2019 10:38 27 mins Paint white
3 27 Dec 2019 11:55 32 mins Paint
3 28 Dec 2019 9:38 42 mins Paint
3 28 Dec 2019 11:51 45 mins Paint
3 28 Dec 2019 14:00 68 mins Paint
3 28 Dec 2019 15:17 55 mins Paint while on phone to Meg
3 30 Dec 2019 19:30 25 mins Test
3 4 Jan 2020 9:16 14 mins Test
3 4 Jan 2020 10:06 43 mins Test
2 4 Jan 2020 19:19 12 mins No longer like where I was going
3 5 Jan 2020 10:57 72 mins Feeling better about this
4 5 Jan 2020 16:18 41 mins Test bulk and white outlines
4 6 Jan 2020 8:47 22 mins Test shadow
4 6 Jan 2020 9:09 15 mins Test comb again
3 6 Jan 2020 11:16 126 mins Mix dark over layer
3 8 Jan 2020 9:00 37 mins Paint begin darken land
4 8 Jan 2020 9:58 43 mins Paint while on phone to Kim
3 8 Jan 2020 17:24 81 mins Paint
3 9 Jan 2020 9:24 9 mins Prep
3 9 Jan 2020 10:30 55 mins paint
3 9 Jan 2020 11:20 44 mins Paint
3 10 Jan 2020 13:22 50 mins Paint
4 10 Jan 2020 14:43 64 mins Paint
3 10 Jan 2020 16:51 49 mins Paint
3 11 Jan 2020 8:35 25 mins Paint
4 11 Jan 2020 9:49 49 mins Paint
4 11 Jan 2020 10:39 44 mins Paint
3 13 Jan 2020 9:12 34 mins Paint
3 13 Jan 2020 10:08 51 mins Paint comb
3 13 Jan 2020 10:33 17 mins Paint
3 13 Jan 2020 11:33 21 mins Paint
3 15 Jan 2020 9:28 66 mins Paint comb beak
3 15 Jan 2020 10:33 17 mins Paint white
3 15 Jan 2020 15:29 49 mins Paint white
3 16 Jan 2020 10:21 36 mins Paint
3 16 Jan 2020 11:08 36 mins Test string and egg
3 17 Jan 2020 8:57 20 mins Paint glazes comb
3 17 Jan 2020 9:52 39 mins Paint
3 17 Jan 2020 10:20 21 mins Paint white
3 18 Jan 2020 9:28 45 mins Test reds
3 18 Jan 2020 10:26 31 mins Test legs
3 18 Jan 2020 11:07 32 mins Paint legs. Still not sure but maybe I like them…
4 19 Jan 2020 10:55 36 mins Paint touch up legs
4 19 Jan 2020 11:20 21 mins Test arms
4 19 Jan 2020 13:50 21 mins Test forks
4 20 Jan 2020 13:46 14 mins Think
4 21 Jan 2020 14:40 52 mins Test blue for arms
4 21 Jan 2020 16:28 58 mins This is crazy but I think I like it
4 21 Jan 2020 19:13 13 mins Test arms w dots
4 22 Jan 2020 15:20 56 mins Strings for guides
3 26 Jan 2020 11:05 43 mins Re-tape fallen strings
3 29 Jan 2020 9:35 58 mins Paint dots
3 29 Jan 2020 10:07 25 mins Repaint front dots
3 29 Jan 2020 14:29 25 mins Touch up and mix blue
3 30 Jan 2020 8:40 35 mins Paint glaze dots
3 31 Jan 2020 11:10 18 mins Think
3 31 Jan 2020 12:15 38 mins Paint green
4 1 Feb 2020 9:42 45 mins Paint green
4 1 Feb 2020 10:19 22 mins Paint
4 1 Feb 2020 14:29 91 mins Paint
4 2 Feb 2020 9:20 29 mins Paint
4 2 Feb 2020 9:47 17 mins paint
4 2 Feb 2020 10:16 13 mins Think
4 3 Feb 2020 8:58 52 mins Paint
4 3 Feb 2020 9:43 38 mins Paint and think
4 3 Feb 2020 10:08 15 mins Think
4 3 Feb 2020 14:18 48 mins Paint
4 3 Feb 2020 19:39 11 mins Think
5 4 Feb 2020 9:02 49 mins Paint knife arm, this looks better than the tracing paper
4 4 Feb 2020 16:32 70 mins Paint fork arm, still needs work
3 4 Feb 2020 18:43 38 mins Paint white on arms
4 4 Feb 2020 19:07 24 mins Remove white from fork arm
4 4 Feb 2020 19:14 7 mins Paint fork and black in eye
3 5 Feb 2020 14:39 14 mins Think
3 5 Feb 2020 15:15 30 mins Paint fork arm
4 5 Feb 2020 15:24 9 mins Paint white eye
4 5 Feb 2020 18:49 19 mins Touch up blue

I was particularly indecisive while painting this one, and went through far more ideas on tracing paper than usual. I haven’t touched it since the 5th of February, so I think it might be finished, but I haven’t signed it yet, so I’m not 100% committed. Also, this time log is for painting sessions only, and doesn’t include building, stretching, or priming, which I track as separate activities.

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Structure and Rules in Art

This is an expansion of the artist statement I posted on the about page of my website.

My paintings and works on paper document my emotional and intellectual life. They are singular impressions, more like diary entries than dissertations, and are related only by relevance to my experience and the passing of time.

I begin a painting with random mark-making, like throwing, printing, or splattering paint. I analyze what I see and ask, “if this is true, what else is true?” then add a new element based on the answer. Like an actor in improv theater, I “Yes, and…” my way through a narrative – ending up with an image instead of a skit.

Each image represents an isolated feeling or thought, but all the images together tell a larger story about the trajectory of my experience as a person and my development as an artist. My accountability for the truth and permanence of this story is an important part of my identity, which is why I never work outside of my sequentially numbered series, and never destroy or hide any of the works.

I developed my process over a ten year period, beginning in 2002, while working exclusively in Moleskine sketchbooks. I adhered to strict rules, including numbering the pages, never tearing one out, signing each one as it was finished, and never retouching one that was signed. When I reached the end of a book, I went back and forced myself to complete and sign any unfinished pages before starting the next book. I then cut the book apart, scanned the drawings, and put them in chronological order on my website.

In 2011, I began working outside of the books, organizing my works on paper into numbered series to keep my rules intact. I continued to work on increasingly larger pieces of paper until 2017, when I made my first series of works on canvas. Those canvases were 30 by 40 inches, and I’m up-scaling again with my recent canvases measuring 4 by 6 feet, some of which I put together to make diptychs of 6 by 8 feet.

These new, large paintings have a different feel than my small works on paper, yet they are a seamless continuation of the project I began with the Moleskine books. I still create improvised psychological narratives that document my experience in real time. I still number the works, create them in chronological series, and make them all public on my portfolio website, which I view as my permanent record. All of my paintings and works on paper are there, in descending chronological order, dating back to my first Moleskine.