Monet had several obsessions including his world-famous haystacks and waterlilies, so did Van Gogh with his beloved Paris and Arles Sunflowers .
Today this practice continues with David Hockney and Lucien Freud – to name but two – painting a series on a particular subject.
Why obsess about one thing and paint it over and over again?
There are many reasons why artists fixate upon a subject. It could be any of the following and many more…
1 To express their deep love of a subject – something with which you have a strong emotional attachment
2 To know the subject in depth – to get to very familiar with it inside out
3 To explore light as it falls on the subject in different conditions
4 To experiment with colours
5 To hone observational skills
Interested in more – then click this link – it makes fascinating reading – Art and Painting in a Series
As for me – I think the main reason I paint a certain animal over and over is because I am captivated by their guilelesness and that is what I strive to express in my paintings – here are some foxes I have painted over the last 3 years – a particular favourite obsession of mine!
What do you create – be it music, dance moves, sewing, knitting, painting, photography, pottery that you do with an OBSESSION and WHY!
Comments below please 🙂
As a photographer, I think I’d add it’s possible they want to capture their subject from a different angle, something unique. I photograph a lot of different things in nature, but I think I really like water/rain drops most. They’re really hard to capture though because the light, the angle and the background have to be just right. And by the time you find the right shot, the drop may have fallen. I love your foxes, they’re really amazing.
Hi Milka
Very true – I think asking the question why you are fixated on a particular thing is a really good exercise in identifying and discovering the real you:) I can imagine that photographing raindrops is a skill in itself – glad you like my foxes…