Avoid Easy Answers--Rotate Still Life, Figure, and Landscape

Can they paint figures, landscapes, and still life?--That is the question I ask when introduced to a new representational artist. Very few paint all three on a rotating basis for public view. Dan Gerhartz and John Treynor are exceptions--there must be others, but few. Still lifes sell, so all you see is still life-- landscapes sell, so all you see from the artist is landscapes-- figures sell so...blah, blah,-- beach scenes sell too--I know about that! Your groove can become your rut in a hurry if money comes into play--that old enemy money! Mannerisms protrude immediately when all you paint is one of these three basic categories to the exclusion of the others. The head is so damn easy to paint that it bored the hell out of Sargent who, being the supreme mannerist, tricked out his sitters in attire befitting the rich, noble, and powerful--so the inter play of the figure in costume with the enviorenment became his playground--even Sargent had to challenge himself to a little honest searching! There is not a portrait painter today who imposes this kind of trouble on himself . It is simple to rig the sitting so that the light plays off the model in all of the standard ways--ways we have painted a hundred times. Repetition breeds easy solutions--familiar solutions become stale tricks--performing old stunts becomes a way of life, and God help you, may even lead to riches. We all know artists who paint still life exclusively--after seeing 20 of these by the same artist we have had enough. There are thousands of lanscape paintings out there that look amazingly alike--separated only by region and not by creativity or treatment. To graduate from the old ateliers you had to produce a piece that had all of the elements, still life, figure, landscape--into one painting that often had some historical story line--now that's a test! So let's rotate the subject matter--shall we. Let's occasionally throw our great painting talent at the unfamiliar. Let's wade into an unknown where anthing can be an answer. After YOU have done this--call me and tell me what you learned so I don't have to do it! Anyway--enough. Mannerisms (easy solutions) are a way of life now in representational oil painting--you can buy how to books on figure painting, landscape painting, still life painting, eyes, ears, nose, throat and mouth painting--painting horses, cats, dogs, fish, birds, how to paint children, teens, old folks, clouds, water, buildings, cars, trees and barns. Art schools have faculty that will show you exactly how to do it. Henri suggested that paintings often don't sell because the motive, the idea, the vision, the mojo is lacking--it may not be the economy--it may be that we are not painting anything worth buying because our work is just a pile of old answers to questions nobody is asking anymore--right? Don Hatfield