tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post7264579359150069091..comments2024-03-28T16:36:12.581-04:00Comments on Gurney Journey: Cubebrush Launches TodayJames Gurneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-38344129453530841442015-12-17T09:42:47.894-05:002015-12-17T09:42:47.894-05:00Sesco, I suppose if you want to show in a gallery ...Sesco, I suppose if you want to show in a gallery or get work for a big entertainment studio, a narrow specialty is a good thing. I like doing a range of things, and that's one of the reasons I developed Dinotopia and the art instruction books that I do. For those, diverse subjects and media are an advantage.James Gurneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-26601520037589458122015-12-17T09:16:03.494-05:002015-12-17T09:16:03.494-05:00James, congratulations on the release of your new ...James, congratulations on the release of your new video "Fantasy In The Wild". I just wanted to make an observation about the last paragraph of your interview with Marc Brunet regarding his view of the need to have a focused portfolio. I have read of this career cornerstone from several other experienced artists, and I can understand from one logical perspective how specializing in a narrow niche improves your probability of securing a commercial gig. Marc's point of an unfocused portfolio (or said another way, a portfolio demonstrating a breadth of understanding) being passed over for a focused portfolio (or said another way, a portfolio demonstrating a limited, albeit masterful, understanding) may make some sense when it comes to commercial work and I take Marc's word for that. Yet, I've always chafed at the idea of having to create repetitiously, with blinders, within guidelines, for painting after painting, week after week, year after year, in order to create a brand, an identity, a persona, a style that can be recognized from across the gallery. Most wonderful things in Life are utterly ruined through repetition. Stay on a beach long enough in your lounge chair with your cooler-full of shrimp cocktail, an endless chain of Mimosa drinks, and there will come a time when you long for a change of scenery. Any thing you can think of, done repetitiously, will ultimately prove soul-deadening. I looked into "Hawthorne On Painting" and found there, among many tomes urging the same impulse, the call to play, the joy of creating, the wonderment of spreading color for his students. I sometimes feel this joy gets tamped down as we attempt more sophisticated techniques and as we narrow our focus in order to be employed. When I read the biographies of so many contemporary artists on their websites one begins to immediately see an underlying formula leading to their implied contentment: "I left the corporate world to paint what I wanted to paint." It appears to be a common career path whereby an artist limits and focuses, earns, saves, then retreats from the corporation to feed her soul with less limitation, less repetition, cushioned in the transition with the money earned. Not so egregious a path, but certainly there seems to be an implied trade off. I'm not sure what I'm feeling, but a friend once told me that Art is Play, and that is something I never want to forget.Sescohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01857017166141673658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-19596683789285186912015-12-15T20:28:52.109-05:002015-12-15T20:28:52.109-05:00I bought the Watercolour in the Wild stuff of Gumr...I bought the Watercolour in the Wild stuff of Gumroad and got a bunch of files including an extra video. I notice on this Cubebrush site it says there is only a single MP4 file. That would make buying from the Gumroad site a better deal then.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-42295733360301384002015-12-15T09:17:18.247-05:002015-12-15T09:17:18.247-05:00What great insights. Particularly appropriate for ...What great insights. Particularly appropriate for me right now is the bit about art schools. (My son is a high school senior looking at pursuing a career in art, and therefore the question of art schools.) Thanks for sharing this!Tom Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04770238579550226268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-58519107354935529752015-12-14T16:21:48.144-05:002015-12-14T16:21:48.144-05:00Thanks! Great information. I'm going back thro...Thanks! Great information. I'm going back through all his Youtube stuff and then I might pick up a few tutorials.Zachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14594893608412698064noreply@blogger.com