Blog

4 - Art & Beginning (getting good mileage)

In this Art & blog though I focus mainly on the methods, philosophies and joys of painting, these ideas can work across various types of Art making. My focus here is on painting because that's what I do. 

This post on The Mileage is really just a piece of a longer essay which I started with The Fuel of Art & Beginning. In a previous post on The Engine I listed the 14 posts which compose the longer essay about Art & Beginning. In the last post we surveyed The Driver of painting. That, of course, is you, the artist. 

This post on The Mileage relates directly to the first one about The Fuel. How does the artist get his/her “I want” artistic fuel to bring the most productive results, or at least, better and improving results?

Mileage in the extended analog of these essays is as with a vehicle. How many miles can it go on one tankful? In other words, we want to know that the vehicle is efficient in its output. So it is with the artist. Can the artist produce consistently? And can the artist bring creative energy to the work over and over? 

Since many artists (if not all) are self-taught they need a good path to make the best use of their time and skills. But a path is not enough because there are many paths. Which one? Making progress even if you're on a good path will not lead to automatic progress. 

This is where having a basic sense of what it means to get good mileage with The Fuel — the “I want” — gives power to everything else you do as an artist.You will get to your goal as an artist when you are effectively and efficiently using that power. What then do we mean by The Mileage?

By The Mileage we mean better output of artwork, more work that is good enough to go out the door, the efficient use of time in the studio (or plein air), doing more work that fits within a coherent style that is recognizably yours and more collectors who have a basic sense of what your work is up to. 

The first step toward better Mileage is to be clear on what Art is for. In one sentence, Art is the communication of the aesthetic vision the artist wants to share with the world. That is his/her mission — to share what he/she wants to see, feel and know with the world that they too might see, feel and know the same. This way of seeing Art is anchored to intention. 

Some definitions of what Art is focus on the idea that Art is creativity. It is that, but creativity speaks to process. Art as aesthetic communication goes to intention. Creativity is the process of bringing that intention to reality. Though his book uses the word “creative” in its title Rick Rubin gets to the potency of artistic intention: “All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now” (Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being). 

‘Art of Painting' by Jan Vermeer PD

The famous image by Vermeer of an artist in his studio is also known by the title, “Allegory of Painting.” Vermeer, though known for only 30 paintings, gave his body of work marks of a mature artistic intention. This particular piece he kept in his collection, never sold till after he passed. Was this because the “Art or Allegory of Painting” was a kind of stamp on the world of what he wanted to do and be? 

There is a mostly unnoticeable pin hole in the middle of the canvas of the “Art of Painting.” That pin hole is not only a remnant of Vermeer's technical desire for proper perspective. That pin hole is also an emblem of the artist's desire — with all its best efforts — to bring the viewer into his field of vision AND to bring that vision to the canvas, the work at hand, with efficiency, clarity and pride of a job well done. 

For me the pin hole in Vermeer's Art of Painting is a powerful metaphor of artistic intention (the “I want” Fuel) making its way effectively into the realm of the real. That pin hole shows three markers of artistic intention made real: deep interest, immersion in the work and systematic effort. Where there are fewer distractions to painting and fewer long gaps of no easel time there has been deep interest, immersion in the work and systematic effort. In other words, good mileage. 

Why call the Art fuel artistic intention? When we frame Art as intention we will always have in hand a framework for good mileage of our Art. This is really so not only as a function of Art, but also because it goes to who we are as humans and how deep the desire to create is within us (see The Art Instinct by Dennis Denton or On Fairy Stories by J. R. R. Tolkien “man becomes a sub-creator”). The desire to aesthetically communicate is sourced in what I want the world to see, feel and know.

This individuated artistic intention is the ground upon which our art is started, worked, completed and shared. Artistic intention, especially as it grows in its intensity and in its consistency becomes like a magnet to better painting strategies, to maturation of painterly skill and to a clearer articulation of the Big Why as it is called. That pure artistic intention is nothing more than a deep passion for painting. “I must paint lest I wither away.”

This may sound philosophical or somewhat esoteric, but Art as intention sets up our tangible creativity to move effectively along the Art path we have taken. The Mileage we want is to move along the Art path in a way that builds a body of work that is uniquely our own. This is not easy, but it is simple. Seeing Art as intention (“I want to say or show______”) is the high octane fuel for your artwork. That said, here is the shortest way I've found to bring Art as intention (the “I want” Fuel) into our a daily practice:

Paint what you love

This is why some artists do mostly landscapes or others do mostly portraits or others mostly abstracts or still life's or illustration and so forth. But again, the big question of how to do the Art “I want to do” well pops up again (and again and again). Yet, with the artistic Premise, ‘To succeed you need to paint what you love' comes the artistic Problem of ‘Art is mainly a subjective endeavor.' Because Art is largely a subjective endeavor it can (and often does) go in a thousand directions… and often it tries to do so at the same time! On this artistic Problem, Robert Greene observes in his book, Mastery, 

“It might seem that connecting to something as personal as your inclinations [what we here refer to as artistic intention or “I want” Fuel]…would be relatively simple and natural.” But it's not, Greene notes. Therefore, “It requires a good deal of planning and strategizing to do it properly, since so many obstacles will present themselves” (p. 29).

We can take up the specifics later on what it means for artists to have “a good deal of planning and strategizing.” For now here are a few bullet points how our artistic intention (the “I want” Fuel or the “Paint what you love” mode) can get the good Mileage it needs.

Our artistic intentions need, at minimum, these 4 actions:

1. Systems to channel the “I want” Fuel — Artist's action: have daily and weekly work routines as well as a list or series of tasks if it's a multi-step art project. Title each task one with “I want______”. Note: Some artists call this The Process. Either way our “I want” Fuel needs a repeatable work flow that keeps us on the path of artistic productivity. 

2. Mentors to guide the “I want” Fuel — Artist's action: a) regular copying a master and b) taking a workshop and c) mingling with other artists (or self-employed creatives) by joining a community of artists (online or in person). If you are in an Altier or a degree program a majority of #1 and #2 will be set for you, but you will make better progress when you take ownership (another form of the “I want” Fuel) of these Systems and Mentor opportunities. 

3. Mastery of materials and techniques — Artist's action: daily experimentation and/or repeated work with the same materials or methods till a degree of proficiency is achieved in those. Then you can shift or add to these.

4. Sharing your art using your own ways of communicating (which is its own art form) — Artist's action: regular conversations with others (online or in person) about your art. The more you do this the more you will learn what ways or forms of communication work best for you and your artwork.

When these 4 actions are moving through the artist to the final work with high frequency then there is good mileage. In fact, by that stage of productivity the artist's intention becomes his/her identity. I plan to say more about artistic identity and the above 4 action points in future posts.

“It requires a good deal of planning and strategizing to do it properly, since so many obstacles will present themselves.”

Robert Greene

In the next Art & post we will look at Art & Beginning - a closer look at the Subjects of painting (part 1 of The Engine). Till then, here are some suggestions for how to growing in the enjoyment of a painting for its Artistic Intention. 

For Collectors

Take a glance at the books mentioned above by Denton, Rubin or Tolkien.

For Artists

Same as above. 

For General Audiences

Same as above

For me the pin hole in Vermeer's Art of Painting is a powerful metaphor of artistic intention, the “I want” Fuel. That pin hole shows three markers of artistic intention: involvement, deep interest and immersion.

——

Note: All artworks by M. Albert Olivero and blog articles written by M. Albert Olivero are copyrighted 2025 with all rights reserved by M. Albert Olivero. Permission to copy or reproduce is not granted unless in writing by M. Albert Olivero.