Van Gogh was Committed, now I am, too.

Hi!

My name is Catherine, and I am trying to become an artist.  Lately, I have been reading a lot about one of my favorite artists, Vincent Van Gogh.  If you are reading this sentence, then I suppose you may be interested in Van Gogh, as well.

Catherine

You probably already know a lot about Vincent.  He painted many famous and beautiful paintings, including "The Sunflowers," "Irises," "The Starry Night" and many others.  He also cut off his ear, spent time in an asylum, and his death at age 37 was ruled a suicide.

But mainly Vincent painted.  Obsessively, purposefully, and in a way that still grabs ordinary, every day people by the collar and makes them feel something about what it means to be a human being in this world.

In the last two and a half years of his life, Vincent produced 465 paintings.

That means that for 912 1/2 sustained days - day in and day out -  Vincent was painting (on average) a complete painting (in less than) every two days.  And these were brilliant paintings, considered by many to be the best and most creative work of his life.

Keep in mind that this was at a time prior to the ease of  modern life - when Vincent wanted to paint a country scene, he had to physically walk out in the country, carrying all of the equipment he needed to paint.  He did not have the convenience of easy to clean up acrylic paints, or well equipped Art Supply websites with next day delivery.  There were no Starbucks to stop by for an icy latte to cool him as he painted in the hot sun; and even something as simple as washing flicked paint off of his trousers must have been a challenge we cannot even estimate...

But Vincent painted and drew and made art like he was on a deadline -

Which, in a way, he was.

As I said, I am trying to become an artist.  This blog is really my first public admission of that fact; and I am admitting it here, because I am hoping that, through this blog and the Vincent Project, I can commit to painting as Vincent did.

Well, sort of like Vincent did.  I know I can't do a painting every two days, even with acrylics and Fed Ex.  So I am going to produce and write about a painting a week for a year.

I am going to go through Vincent's catalogue of work and try to copy one of his paintings each week.  Some I will copy closely, trying to work out what colors and techniques he used, and some I will reinterpret in my own fashion, by just adopting the theme or color scheme or whatever interests me about Vincent's work into my own.

Each week, I plan to document my painting process by photographing my work, and I will post these photos on the Vincent Project blog.  I plan to write a little each week about my painting - the failures and successes (if any); and I will let you know if one of my ears falls bloodied to the floor during the next 12 months.

I will also upload each finished (or unfinished) painting, which I will post by midnight (CST) every Tuesday.  I will announce the new painting I will be working on each (following)Wednesday by noon.

Although Vincent painted often in isolation and with very little recognition of his effort, I am hoping that the Vincent Project will become a forum for the discussion of art and art making, and that whoever is reading this will consider painting (or drawing or working in pastels, or whatever you want to do) along with me.  I am hoping the rest of you will be able to post your own work, as well as any thoughts or insights you have about the work or the blog or both.

Well there it is.

Catherine

PS - I will be selecting images to copy from books, the google art project (www.googleartproject.com) and from the Vincent Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam (www.vangoghmuseum.nl).  If I can post the images in the blog, I will do so; if not, I will direct you to a link so you can locate them yourself.  The Van Gogh museum is also an excellent resource for historical and personal information about Vincent's life, if you are interested.

I also want to thank my family, especially my husband, for their support of this project.  Thanks!

I have posted a photo of the painting (assigned in an informal painting class) that started this below.  On the left (from a book) is Vincent's chair; on the right is mine.

Please feel free to share this with anyone whom you think may be interested in reading it.