“My painting group is stuck in SSDD,” a student told me. I didn’t know what that meant, so I asked my daughter.
“Same s-t, different day,” she laughed, “and boy do I know it. You see it at work, at church, in school. It’s when people do the same thing over and over and expect a different outcome.”
There are times we’re all stuck in repetitive tasks. There’s nothing to do in that situation but suck it up. The dishes and laundry don’t do themselves. And as Prince Harry’s poignant testimony this week reveals, having staff to do those things for us is no secret to happiness.
But painting shouldn’t be like that. Yes, you need to practice, but if you’re feeling like you’re going around in circles, perhaps you’re stuck in SSDD too.
Take the typical paint out. They’re fun, and they can result in great work, but they’re primarily social. If you never push yourself past the three-hour field sketch, you’re not going to advance as fast as you will if you lean into the problems that bedevil you.
Of course, one person’s SSDD is another’s secure, comfortable routine. If you are happy with the results of your current painting practice, far be it from me to try to change it. However, I haven’t known too many people who think they paint perfectly. That ranges from new painters to nationally-known names. It’s a mark of a good artist to always want to be a better artist.
One of the toughest things you can do is compare work you did last month, a year ago, five years ago, twenty years ago. If there isn’t change, ask yourself why. That doesn’t mean that your new work is inherently better than your old work; it means that you’ve maintained an interest in transformation and growth.
How do I break out of the same old same-old?
Breaking out of the cycle of SSDD can be challenging, especially when you’ve built comfortable routines around your painting practice. But here are some specific strategies you can try:
Set new goals: Identify specific objectives that you would like to achieve. That might be a new body of work for a solo show, learning better draftsmanship, or a daily drawing practice. It could be reading a classic painting text like Alla Prima by Richard Schmid (now available for free online).
Tackle a new genre: I get it-you love landscape painting. So do I. But when I’m feeling stale, I like to drag out something different, like still lives or fantasias.
Stop making every painting session the same three hours long. Bring a big canvas and paint the same scene for a full day. Or bring five 6X8 canvases and paint five half-hour studies of the same scene. A longer painting gives you time to draw, research and compose. Quick sketches give you a change to experiment. If every painting takes you the same exact amount of time, don’t be surprised if they all look the same.
Try a new medium. I’m not talking about taking up gouache if you’re a watercolorist, but rather jumping off an artistic cliff. Try printmaking. Écorché. Sculpture. Textile art. Henri Matisse was one of the seminal figures in modern painting, but he was also a draftsman, printmaker and sculptor. When old age stopped him from painting, he created an important body of work in cut paper collage. You can never predict how one medium will influence another in your artistic development.
Rest: Sometimes, you might develop a sense of ennui not from boredom but from burnout. I’m not that great at resting myself, but there are certain tell-tale signs that I need to clock out for a while: I’m forgetful and clumsy. I may not be able to stop immediately, but I know to schedule a break as soon as I can.
My 2024 workshops:
- Painting in Paradise: Rockport, ME, July 8-12, 2024.
- Sea & Sky at Schoodic, August 4-9, 2024.
- Find your authentic voice in plein air: Berkshires, August 12-16, 2024.
- Art and Adventure at Sea: Paint Aboard Schooner American Eagle, September 15-19, 2024.
- Immersive In-Person Workshop: Rockport, ME, October 7-11, 2024.