No Escape

I've been painting alot lately. In the last month I think I've completed something like 25 paintings. Varying sizes, varying degrees of success IMO. I've come to one conclusion through it. There is simply no escaping who you are artistically. In my 15+ years as a professional illustrator/artist I've looked at alot of art. In fact recently I decided to stop looking at everyone elses art so I could get a clearer vision of what it was that I had to offer. Its so easy to get caught up in the idea of what the completed painting "should be", rather than what is. I think that for me one of the major distinctions between creating fine art and illustration is freedom. The freedom to choose not only subject matter and content, but the freedom to rest (or not, as is the case sometimes)with the result. In work for hire, the client almost always dictates the subject, the style and to some degree the final art.