Painting in a Series

I love to paint! And I’ve started painting in a Series.

Have you?

I come to my studio everyday, mostly to paint, but also to read and look my art books, to take online Zoom classes, to practice techniques that I’ve learned and to do the necessary stuff to run an art business. My two doodles are always with me.

Today am I going to write about painting in a Series, something that I’ve just recently started to do. I hope you find this information interesting and helpful.

What Is a Series?

A Series is a collection of artworks that are all related in some way. There is no set number to how many paintings a series requires, I’ve seen numbers like 5 to 30 paintings. They all have a cohesive and recognizable theme, and a common thread running through them. The theme can be a visual unity, such as the use of a distinct color palette, a particular technique or material used, all in the same location, or the use of repeated shapes. The theme can be intellectually united, like being centered around a certain concept, an interesting theme, a special event, or an inspiring idea. A great example of an artists’ series is Monet’s 30 paintings of haystacks painted between1890 and 1891, near his home in Giverny. He painted them to study the light at different times of day and in different seasons.

A Series makes for a coherent and deeper display of an artist’s current ideas or beliefs, their thoughts, their experiences, their story, their journey. It has the immediate attraction of its viewers and can be very powerful when viewed all together. A Series has a much better story-telling ability than a single paining, thus gains a more positive response from the viewer. This is because with each additional painting, the original thought grows into something more refined and bigger than a single painting could ever be. A Series is sometimes referred to as an artist’s body of work.

Why Paint in a Series?

There are many benefits for artists to create work in a Series. An artist will be more engrossed in their subject, their voice will become more clear and stronger, they will have a better understanding of what they are doing, where they are going and what it takes to get there, thus resulting in deeper expressions on their canvas. Since an artist creates more pieces with a series, they have a better chance to discover better ways to convey their emotions and their message. They are freer to enjoy the process of letting the next painting emerge using the threads they discovered in their previous painting.

A viewer can look at a Series of paintings and know without a doubt that they were all painted by the same artist. A Series will give the viewer a better understanding of what the artist is trying to express. They might not understand this by looking at just one painting. For this reason, a Series is what most galleries require, especially for Solo shows. They would rather show a unified body of work rather than a disjointed group of paintings.

Painting in a Series will strengthen the artist’s skills in the use of their materials and tools. It will help them decide what techniques they prefer and which ones they want to leave behind. It will strengthen their creative voice. An artist will be able to explore a certain palette, composition, or theme more deeply. They can try new ways to express similar ideas since they have multiple paintings to paint.

Painting in a Series will show viewers, collectors, and galleries that an artist takes their work seriously and are willing to work hard to reach their goals. This will also help reveal more of their story to their followers, which is hard to express with “one-off” paintings when they change things up every time they paint. Both the artist’s work and art career will be enhanced when they paint in a Series. It is also a great opportunity to increase sales by having multiple versions available for interested buyers.

How to Start a Series?

The artist will need to come up with an idea for their series, which will require some brainstorming and will take some time. Ideas could include a certain theme, a subject, or words, such as intention, transformation, nature red flowers, large vases, mountains, being joyful, or a special place, an idea, an emotion, a person, or just about anything that is open to variation. It needs to inspire the artist and be a topic they are very interested in exploring further. It should be personal and appealing to them, as it needs to hold their interest until the series is completed.

Once they have made their decision, this needs to be recorded in their studio journal. (Especially since artists can jump to a new idea overnight and forget what they were going to do!) Once decided and recorded, then it’s time to do some research, to really understand the subject from all angles. Read about the subject, talk to others who may have knowledge of the topic and collect some opinions. It helps to take multiple photographs, do sketches, and constantly jot down notes in their studio journal anytime they run across something interesting about their topic.

One artist, Larry Moore, suggested playing “word association” with the topic. He suggested write down every word, idea or image that comes to mind when you think of the topic. Keep a list of these in your journal and keep adding to it.

It will make it easier for the artist to express their topic on many canvases if lots of reference material is gathered. So they should gather more than they think they will need. While they are working on their final paintings, they will be happy they have extra material in which to work.

What’s Next?

Now it’s time to narrow down all that reference material and start assembling what matches their vision. Think about ways to make a connection between all the collected information. There needs to be cohesion and that common thread present.

Next, it will be helpful to write a preliminary artist statement about the intended body of work they plan on creating. This can change, but just get something down. This will nail down the focus and the common thread. It’s a good idea to jot down the decided “theme” and reasons why they are passionate about this theme.

This will help set up some “ground rules” for them to follow. The ability to focus and stay on track is critical to making a series of artworks that work together.

Now it’s time to decide on what materials will be needed. What medium will you be painting in, what color scheme are being considered, what surface and sizes will be needed, what orientation, and will any special tools be required. How many paintings have you decided on? This all needs to be written down in the journal.

Then do an inventory of supplies on hand and what needs to ordered. Place that order. While waiting on the supplies to arrive, be sketching out multiple possibilities of compositions, clearing out some studio space, and reviewing the notes in your studio journal. Try to clear up other studio projects that will distract you. Below is a planner I got from Tara Leaver that may come in handy.

When ready to start painting, look at your calendar and figure out how much time to devote to this project each day. Then make a painting schedule, set an end date, and write all this on your calendar and in the journal. Then make a sincere commitment to it. Consider “announcing your future series” on your social media platforms to help hold you accountable. If you do, give some updates and “sneak peeks” to engage your viewers.

It will be beneficial to paint multiple pieces in one studio room and possibly at the same time. Of course, this will depend on the amount of space available. Try to at least paint two or three together at the same time. You need to be able to refer to your previous paintings. Review The Elements of Art as well as The Principles of Design as often as possible, to assess your work.

When you are about halfway through view the finished pieces as a group and ask yourself these questions: Do they look cohesive? Do they all convey the set theme, or message? Do you see connections, that common thread flowing through them? Are they harmonious? Is there enough variety between each one? Is anything missing? What, if anything, needs to be added or removed? Do they compliment each other? Does each painting have enough strength to stand on its own? Does any painting need to be removed from this Series? If so, take it out and review them again. Do this review again at the end.

When you feel the collection is complete, have photos taken of them in a group and by themselves. Review these photos. Are any adjustments needed?

Once you are satisfied, do the necessary work of naming, cataloging, framing and varnishing them. Don’t forget to write your artist statement about this collection of work. You will be glad that you at least started this earlier.

Then start on your next Series!!

Hope you enjoyed my blog post.

Talk soon!

**Please sign up for my Newsletter below ⬇️. Thanks for reading.

My Favorite Art Books Part Two