Manana Island

8x6 oil

I painted this small piece four times before I thought, “Okay, this one I like.”

I used four different panels so I could compare each one against the other to see if I got any better with each successive painting. I used two smooth Ampersand Gessorbord panels and two cotton canvas panels from Raymar (56MC). I wanted to test the surfaces as well as my ability to paint this island off the eastern end of O’ahu. This study is on the Raymar panel, which turned out to be my favorite.

This experiment of painting a scene multiple times was a small version of a method of learning called chunking, which is kind of like feeding an elephant one peanut at a time (my version of that idiom, since I wouldn’t dream of eating one).

In teaching myself how to write, I chunked first sentences for a month, writing five new ones every day. It was quite a challenge, but in the end, I felt I had a pretty good handle on it.

This time, I mini-chunked Manana Island, which is also called Rabbit Island. I could paint this scene fifty more times and maybe by then I would feel somewhat competent. But I like this one. It feels good to me, simple as it is.

Neil Gaiman, a writer I admire, said in his great little book Art Matters, “The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.”

Amen, brother.

You've inspired me to head on back to my easel to chunk on something that isn’t here yet.