This 8x10 panel contains an exercise I did during the recent Carol Marine workshop, held at the North River Arts Society. The instructions were to paint a simple still life with each stroke being a new color. Every time I put brush to canvas, I had to make a tick mark on the panel to show how many and which colors I used. Very painful but extremely worthwhile. This exercise kept me totally focused on the colors and number of brush strokes that I use. No fussing, no fiddling, no 'cat licks' with the brush. Carol also paints way outside the boundaries of the items, which I was trying to do as well. The idea of doing that is to get some of the paint from the item into the 'atmosphere', so it looks as if it 'lives there'. Wow, I learned so much at the workshop.
I am so happy you started a blog. You always have insightful and witty things to say about art (and life). Thank you for sharing this painting exercise. The visual is very helpful. I look forward to trying it. I am trying to focus my efforts on doing 'the work' right now to improve my painting. I feel I am at a plateau or holding spot (sounds like dieting) with my painting at the moment. Can't get over the next hump - must have to go through it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amber. We are lucky to have a wonderful art community in which to learn and grow. You have such talent. I don't think we see our own growth sometimes. Maybe we're too close to it? Keep painting and relish those small successes. Soon enough it'll be bigger than you realized.
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