Progressions: The Different Stages of a Painting

I wanted to show everyone how much work goes into one painting. There are many people I know who don't realize the time and skill it takes to create (sometimes acquiring it as you work).

This post is less about the words and more about the progressions behind these paintings. 

Each of the shells took about two hours to complete. The one in the right top corner took three to four hours.

"Lighthouses" took a while. The reason this one took so long wasn't because of the painting. I had no idea what I was going to paint or how it was going to look. The other reason was scale. The canvas that I worked with was 24" x 48". I couldn't really figure out if I should put one lighthouse and a boat, leave some beach, or what. It took an entire year of me staring at it for me to figure out what I wanted to paint. Then I saw it on a road trip. I realized that I could put two lighthouses in one painting. This painting went through many changes as you can see here. 

It's important to not give up on your painting. I've learned so much about myself through painting. So what if you mess up. You can wet it down and wipe the paint off, you can wait until it dries and paint over it, or you can scrap it and start over. Whatever you decide to do is up to you. Just don't stress over it. Progress. 

The Art You Buy or Acquire

I just received a comment on a Facebook status and it's provoked some internal questions. I shared a post about a Nigerian painter who paints lifelike paintings of children playing in water. I'm unsure why he paints them, however, his paintings are very good. Although the comment was meant to be funny, since it was a "dog" who posted the comment, I feel that it is a necessary question that one may ask of the community around them seeing that not many people buy art for the sake of art. Many people I know buy posters or reproductions but do not own an original piece. If you do own an original piece I'd like to know what inspired you to buy or acquire it. Was it lifelike? Is it a subject you are interested in? Are you looking for pretty flowers to hang in your living room over a blank wall space? Are you looking for something that you could stare at for hours on end and see something different with every brush stroke? Is it something that a relative gave you or you inherited?

What inspires you to buy anything you deem to be art?