2024 #30×30 Day 29

10×10″ Oil on Panel.

I think it’s clear what I’m doing with this series, which is choosing big huge views that are wide enough and vast enough to remove any specific details. They’re an abstraction of the landscape; no buildings, no cars, no people – nothing left but color.

Maybe most significant for me, an artist who’s done so much travelogue – they don’t come with a story about this or that place, or who discovered the view, or what trail to take up the mountain.

They’re a purely visual experience.

There’s a magic trick here; feeling the pull of the imaginary horizon, the sensation of space and depth, while simultaneously being confronted by the juiciness of the paint. The tactile surface simultaneously creating and destroying the illusion.

I’m not sure why I love the feeling so much, but I can look at these for hours. Letting them flip back and forth like the optical illusions they are.

It’s been a great 30×30, even though I’m breaking all the rules :) Including not pushing myself to get to thirty. I’ve always said to people: Do whatever you can. Go at your own pace. Don’t pressure yourself. But I’ve never taken my own advice.

If I do one more tomorrow, I’ll have made 22 paintings in the 30 days.

It’s very possible this is just what getting older is like! I’ve been relaxing, giving myself an entire month to simply enjoy painting, recapturing what I love so much about color mixing and mark making, and everything that oil painting does differently from any other medium.

I haven’t been experiencing the rush (and anxiety) of producing thirty paintings in advance (I’ve often done 30 in 15 days in order to make it work), scanning paintings, editing demo videos, engaging in social media on all fronts, all at the same time. And in return, I’m much more attached to these paintings. I really am painting for myself, after all these years.

So yes; it’s a weird seventh year of #30x30DirectWatercolor (but of course – all the past years are still here on the blog). Maybe it can be an example of how to motivate yourself, just for yourself. Ultimately, that’s the only thing you can do, if your artwork is going to continue to mature, and you’re going to keep up the drive year after year.

So thanks everyone, for helping me get to this spot today.

And if any of you have been doing the event this year, please post your #30×30 in the comments. Feel free to show off here with a link to your blog or your socials. Maybe we can put you in touch with a like minded artist near you :)

Ok, see you tomorrow for the big finish!

~marc