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Realistic Goals

© Jo Murphy

When I was young, people used to tell me that an artist can only paint for four hours at a stretch. Being energetic and 'gung ho' I used to think this was melodramatic! Painting for very long stretches of time, I could often last days with only snatches of sleep. However as I gain more understanding of the creative process I realise that I was not actually achieving anything. On the contrary I was (perhaps) lessening the creative qualities of my work.

It seems that the human body can only put out a certain ammount of adrenaline at a time. It also seems that the human body does need to access this adrenaline to be able to output truly creative imaginings. Therefore as the body lessens its ability to create, the output becomes more habit-like and mundane.

Now this can be okay at times. When I demonstrate cartooning to classes hour after hour at school, I find that I can be truly creative in the first lesson. As I tire I become less spontaneous in the next lesson. Once I have taught for a few hours I am reduced to simply repeating the lesson in a rote fashion. This is okay, but I am sure the kids in the first classes find the process a bit more exciting.

When I am painting for permenant public exhibit or exhibition it is wise for me make sure I am fresh and as truly artistically inspired as is possible.

So below I have described some work methods I have developed through trial and error in an attempt to make sure I am truly at my best when I present projects to the consuming public.

• I plan well ahead and practice the separate elements of the design often. To do this I often incorporate the cartoons of the design into my school lessons so that I have to demonstrate drawing them often. The act of drawing the same thing over and over again means that after a good night's sleep I can paint that subject matter almost automatically.

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• When designing this image I drew it again and again with a Wacom. By furthering my skills in this area, I was aiming to 'wring' as much as is possible from this amazing piece of technology.
• Before painting this portrait of William Booth I had taken the time to really know the subject matter before I began painting. I enjoyed researching the life of the Salvation Army Founder. This gave me a fair idea about what feelings I wanted to evoke in the passer by. It was hard to find a suitable time to undertake this project and so I ended up painting it at 5pm on a Friday afternoon during peak hour traffic. It took only two hours to finish this piece completely. The next day I came back and painted the haiku presented below on either side of the traffic signal box.

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