I’ve spent the last few days working on an entry for the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s 2010 Waterfowl Management Stamp Contest. It’s been a few years since I’ve done one of these paintings and questioning my sanity for doing it this time. Good grief!
I don’t like the restrictions of stamp art. I don’t like the unyielding direction judges always take… leaning toward over-painted cartoon-like detail and unrealistic color instead of solid composition and accuracy. Heaven forbid any artist that might set forth on a painting outside the established norms of “typical” stamp art. Often some judges are barely qualified to jury a coloring book contest… let alone something to be considered fine art! It’s enough to make me pull my hair out (if I had any).
The winners of these contests are usually much more in line with illustrations than art… and no… they are not the same thing.
So I struggle… trying to keep some balance between solid artistic integrity (whatever that means) and the tedious detail and saturated color that always seems to pop the judges’ cork. Hopefully it will be near completion by the end of the week. I will post the image when I feel comfortable with my effort.
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