Painter, illustrator and writer James Gurney frequently posts short videos to YouTube, often showing his painting process. Though I have found pretty much all of those I’ve seen enjoyable and informative, he recently posted a video that I found particularly appealing.
In Painting This Botanical Study Nearly Broke My Brain he sets out to paint a detailed study of a hosta plant in the New York Botanical Garden with watercolor and gouache.
I think what I like about his approach here is the pace of the video. It’s a little longer, and I think proceeds a little slower than most of his short videos.
The subject involves maintaining intense concentration while focused on painting the plant accurately, and — with the exception of a short, sped-up sequence in the beginning — seems paced in a way that pleasingly suits the subject, approaching a feeling of ASMR in places.
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Thanks, Charley for your kindness and for mentioning the pacing. I tried something a little different on this one. At the beginning of the video I jumped right into the topic at fairly high velocity, like we all have to do with YouTube videos, but then I took the foot off the gas and slowed down to the actual pace of painting.
My pleasure, James. I think one of the things painters know — that doesn’t often come through in videos — is the relaxed, focused, “in the zone” feeling that can come with periods of painting or drawing, even when the concentration and effort are intense. I think you capture some of that here.