| People who give private art lessons say the | | | | sitting beneath a tree. In the next, she sits |
| question they most dread from their students is: | | | | between two trees. A third has two girls in white |
| 'What shall I paint,today?' Even professional artists | | | | dresses and three trees. Well, you get the |
| sometimes run out of ideas and are faced with | | | | picture... |
| the same question. I have never had that | | | | The drawback is: The market for girls in white |
| problem. So, am I some kind of a genius? Oh boy, | | | | dresses sitting under trees is soon saturated and |
| I know the answer to that better than my worst | | | | the pool of collectors who are satisfied with a |
| critic. But early in my career, I stumbled on the | | | | painting that looks as if it came off the rack - 'this |
| secret to a never-ending source of inspiration that | | | | goes with that' - is quite small. |
| leads unfailingly from one painting to the next. | | | | 3. The third form is truly the most powerful of all |
| I call it The Power of a Series and it comes in | | | | - because it is built on ideas. Your personal ideas, |
| three forms. | | | | on a subject you care passionately about. It might |
| 1. The first is the obvious: Specialize in a Category. | | | | be fuelled by your desire to protect the natural |
| For example, you might decide to become a | | | | environment, or by your fierce opposition to child |
| Landscape painter and, within that genre, you | | | | slavery. It might grow, almost organically, from |
| may specialize in the landscapes of the region | | | | love of your home country and its history or |
| where you live. No matter how 'ordinary' that | | | | folklore. The possible choices are endless and as |
| scenery may seem to those who see it every | | | | unique as your own character. But the subject |
| day, a true artist will recognize its unique qualities | | | | must be one that engages your deepest feelings. |
| and reproduce them in a way others will | | | | One that intrigues you so much you can easily |
| appreciate. Just think of the way Lloyd Rees | | | | spend your life exploring it. One that enthuses you |
| treated the 'mundane' roadside scenes around the | | | | to carry out the research it demands. |
| little town of Berry in NSW. Or remember how, | | | | Because each of these paintings will grow out of |
| when you took your first international flight out of | | | | the ideas that you, and only you, have developed |
| Australia, you looked down at the central desert | | | | about the subject, your body of work will look like |
| and saw one of those Fred Williams calligraphic | | | | that of no one else. It will be instantly and |
| paintings. Flowers, buildings, streetscapes, beach | | | | unmistakably recognised as yours. Others may |
| scenes - the subject choice is vast and within | | | | try to copy your work but they will always be a |
| each one, there is always room for a painter with | | | | step behind. Because your mind is the wellspring |
| a fresh approach. | | | | for the ideas behind the artworks, and no one |
| The only drawback is: You will have an enormous | | | | else thinks quite the way you do. And you will |
| amount of competition from artists taking the | | | | never spend another minute wondering 'What shall |
| same tack. So you will need to develop a very | | | | I paint, today?' |
| individual style and great expertise to stand out. | | | | There is only one drawback I can think of: The |
| 2. The second form of series painting is, | | | | human life span is too short for you to ever |
| unfortunately, also obvious. You can see it in | | | | make all the paintings on your subject that will |
| many galleries whose owners care more about | | | | keep rising in your imagination, demanding |
| making quick and easy sales than they do about | | | | expression. This is because they are part of an |
| the artistic development of its creator. Of course, | | | | on-going story you are building around your special |
| the 'hack' artists who follow this line must take | | | | subject. And when you think about it, Story is the |
| responsibility for whatever it is - laziness, lack of | | | | oldest and most basic of the arts - the foundation |
| imagination - that motivates them. I am talking | | | | all great art. But that is a topic for a future |
| about those exhibitions you see in which one | | | | article... |
| painting shows, for example, a girl in a white dress | | | | |