Watching what others do: does it help?

It was a lark to pause, hit
play, and watch the series,
Portrait Artist of the Year.

Would it be interesting to
watch someone paint?

To see what it takes to paint a
portrait in just four hours?

It is.

And because of it, I'm seeing
my collage work in new
ways.

I've never been a painter.
Just collage.

Painted sheet music. 

No other papers, inks, or marks.

It's come together by chance,
but the decision to stick with
just the sheet music and paint
has limited my choices.

And in some ways made it
easier.

It forces me to find solutions with
the materials I have. No distractions
or wasted time pining for other
papers or methods.

Watching the artists on the
program gives the viewer
insights to the process of
painting a portrait, and the
decisions each one makes
as they work.

How they squint at their work,
exhale deeply, frown, step back,
and stick with it.

It's inspiring to watch them
overcome doubt and move
forward.

It's got me thinking about
how I create my collage art,
the shapes I cut, how I paint
the paper. How much detail
I add ... or omit.

This is a new collage, with
snippets of painted, cut, and
torn papers coming together,
in unexpected ways,

for a new project.

Nothing is permanent,
yet.

And there's a long way
to go. But new ideas,
thoughts, and techniques
are pushing through the
underbrush, revealing
themselves bit by bit.

Just as the portrait
sitters do as they come
to life on the blank canvas
of each and every portrait artist.