Absorbed in the today's digital world people don’t realise the work that goes behind the art work. The creators, the producers, the manufacturers, the dealers and the salesman all take part of it, even the buyer. Just like my matchbox story, you can read here, I am taking you behind the scene of an artist.
"We see something that pleases with beauty in our eyes. We eat something that made our taste-buds burst into tears. We listen to certain sounds because it makes our inside dance. We touch objects and creatures because they make our body tremble with sweetness and love. We smell flowers because their scent makes us blossom. What if one day non of this would be here?"
Often when we perform an action, it's just because our sensors impulsed us to do so.
Recently I created this artwork, purely from my heart for my Godfather who has been a great support to me over the years. I had been brainstorming on how to do something in return. Art was my answer … So two weeks back I wrote him an email and popped out two questions to get inspired. I asked him to give me a country or a location and a subject. This is the result:
"Rocky Jockey's" ~ Mata with love for R.V. (31 July 2018)
I was very delighted with the answer because of my connection with horses. At one point in my life they came to give me strength, they were my blessing in disguise without them I would not have longer been here. Horses are to me, other than, dolphins and elephants one of the most intelligent and inspiring creatures on earth. The have a miraculous perception and ability to tell you exactly what’s happening in your environment and inside you. You just need to know how to listen to them.
So upon reading “Horseraces Waregem & Hats” the creation just streamed through my inner neurons. Within a few minutes I had visualized my painting and went on the hunt for the images online. In this case the idea came fast but at times artists brainstorm, sometimes have to step back, let go and later return to the idea they had. Sometimes it never comes because there is no stimulus.
I was very lucky to be able to get response so fast because within 10 minutes I had found the images I was looking for.
Photo's reference: https://www.waregemkoerse.be/ and "Jockey Silks", custom wallpaper (https://www.spoonflower.com/)
In normal circumstances I would go through several photo's if I hadn't taken them myself and most likely compose my own from many. This time I guess I was lucky. Don't ask me how I came to the idea of searching for jockey prints but I guess I was looking for something vivid to use as a background. I was also looking for a way to mask the jockey's from the picture as I wanted to focus on bringing out the power of the horse and put it into display.
In this instance the visualisation I had for my end result took me very little time and I started within one hour after receiving the call.
Now, a normal painter, carpenter or electrician here in Belgium earns between 40 and 60 Euro’s an hour for his work to make a living to survive (covering our high expenditure of taxes, social security, ect…).
Out of curiosity I did the mats for this picture.
My painting is an A3 size paper, the medium I used is pencil, Staedtler fine Artliners and water paint. I spend in total around 9 hrs to draw the horses first in pencil and and later with pen. For the background pattern it took me 8 hrs and another 12,5 hrs to paint it in colour. The finishing touch where I outlined the horses took me 2 hrs. Which makes up a total of 31.5 hrs. (see steps below)
Video: This is exactly a one minute video shot indicating the speed of my work.
So if I were an independent artist in Belgium I would have to charge between 1,180 (40/hr) and 1,770 Euros (60/hr) for this tiny assignment. And this doesn’t cover my mental production, my expenditure for material, and the delivery.
In reality, I would charge 150-350 Euros for an A3 size artwork. This is why digital art has come into place. It’s fast, easy and cheap but in my opinion the individual character is missing, the feeling of the artists hand isn’t visual and the effort one has made isn’t seen or felt …
This is why 5 years back, I had stopped painting, stopped creating because authentic art is no longer appreciated. I didn’t want to produce to make my work become a commercial product where people just buy for the sake for pleasing the eye without appreciating the artists mind, performance and realizing the efforts of the work behind the artwork.
You can charge for digital art but for one's artistic creation made by heart the art becomes priceless. And this in fact applies to all in life. Not just the artwork we buy, but the food we eat, the water we drink, the workman we pay, the streets sweeper, the cloths we wear, the music we listen to ... even the earth we walk upon every day. Everyone forgets that we all work hard to keep yourselves healthy and to be able to live with the minimum comfort.
My name is Mata, I create art from my heart so whatever you see on my website doesn't come with a price ticket but was either given away, or gifted as a token of appreciating to those who sponsor me or support me in many different ways.
If you wish to make a donation to contribute to my work, than feel free to do so via PayPal on the bottom of my contact page.
With love and light,
Mata