STAY on track during the holiday!
For many of us, our holiday schedule makes any really attention to art nearly impossible. Here is a tip that not only helps you grow as an artist but also might help you clean out some old paintings in your studio before your guests arrive!
If you have accumulated a few unfinished paintings, now is the time to wrap things up. Set the artwork around your home or studio where you can see them while doing something other than painting. This permits your sub-conscious side to get to work. Carry a post-it note pad and pencil. Chances are you will get an idea or two of something to try to move your painting forward. When you do, write it on the post-it and stick it to the back of your painting, not to the front because then the note will become part of the composition!
Let the painting ‘talk’ to you. Permit yourself to break outside of your comfort zone and try something different from you standard ’solution’. It helps if you approach this process with the attitude of “what will pull this together” and not “I can’t do this or that because of ?”. As Virginia Cobb says, ‘If you don’t try something new, how do you find out what the possibilities are?”
When you have an idea or two, jump into the process with energy and boldness. Don’t ‘pity-pat’! One way or another, you will have tackled a problem and learned by your efforts what works and what does not. IN ADDITION, having limited time to work on the solution will be in your favor. It will help you get busy and focus on solving problems in a new way.
I have a stack of “in progress” works that I’m sick of looking at. Before January 1st rolls around, I hope to have moved a few forward … even if it’s toward the circular file. In any case, it’s a win-win. If nothing else, I will gain new insights on what not to do. Moreover, I will have made more space in my studio for later efforts.
~Lynn
ACHIEVE RICH DARKS
guest contributor Ann Pember
A few small things can help us push deeper values in our work. A rich dark can only be produced by pigment that is capable of producing a deep dark. Some, such as cobalt blue, even straight out of the tube, produce only a mid tone. Test the colors you work with and use a value scale or value viewer (see the Value Viewer on the CCP website) to observe the value each can produce at its greatest intensity. Base your choice of colors on the result you envision for your painting.
Another key is to use enough pigment. You must blot excess water out of your brush before picking up paint, or you will have too much water. You will make a pale painting if you go from the water container right into paint and then paint on wet paper, There will be too much water and not enough paint. Instead, pick up juicy paint with a damp brush and test the color. It should be the consistency of heavy cream, or even toothpaste! That will make a wonderful dark. Don’t be afraid of “wasting” your paint. Put out a generous amount of each color, maybe half a tube or more.
Make quick value sketches if you can’t visualize your image in black and white. If you’re working from a photo, you can print a copy in grayscale and edit the image to get the look you desire. Never settle for photo reference without designing it by editing and making changes to improve the image! Make it art, not a copy. That includes designing a good pattern of values: light, middle, and dark. Ann Pember has taught two Creative Catalyst DVD workshops: Vibrant Orchid: Painting in the Flow of Watercolor and Painting in the Flow of Watercolor on High Plate Illustration Board.
CONGRATULATIONS to Sue Archer
The painting filmed for Sue Archer’s DVD workshop, “Pineapple Top” won two awards. It won First Place in Watercolor at the Festival of the Masters at Disney and Award of Distinction at Daytona. And all this under the pressure of filming at CCP! Way to go Sue!
Winter Art Show Begins
It’s time for another Creative Catalyst Art Show. Winter’s theme is: TREASURES
All mediums are welcome, just make sure to have your entries in by February 29, 2007.
CCP online art shows are a great way to share your work with the world. There is no fee to enter but there are opportunities to win some cool prizes.
Juror for the winter show is Janie Gildow.
Janie Gildow is an internationally known, award-winning artist. Her work has been published in The Artist?s Magazine, International Artist, and American Artist Magazine and in more than ten books including The Best of Colored Pencil 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Janie is the author of Colored Pencil Explorations and co-author of the Colored Pencil Solution Book, both published by North Light.
She appears in two DVD workshops from Creative Catalyst Productions: ?Colored Pencil, Getting started Right,? and ?Colored Pencil, The Light Touch.?
Janie is a Signature Member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, a juried member of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club (NYC) and appears in Who?s Who of American Women and the World Who?s Who of Women.
Janie has judged numerous art competitions including the prestigious Texas & Neighbors Art Show in Dallas, TX.
She lives in Green Valley, Arizona, with her husband, Joe, and two cats: Murfee and PeeBee, and teaches at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute.
Creative Block
My article last week about creative block must have hit a chord. I received such wonderful communications from many of you, not the least of which was my mother calling to see if I was okay… : )
I’ve received permission to share some of your strategies for getting out of your blocked space. As Mary Lou Harris Arnold says, “I think there are a lot of us in the same boat, so why not turn it into a cruise ship?” Mary Lou continued by saying her muse is MIA but “…I finally decided to just go back to the basics – I started playing with my paints, creating a new color chart, trying different new mixes, anything to just keep my brushes wet with rich juicy pigments. (Musicians practice their scales, golfers practice their swings, etc.) I painted a simple pear, and I liked it! I painted a rose, but with outrageous color, and it was FUN! I ordered some dazzling new tubes of paint to entice my muse, and I think she may be flirting with me now.”
Rosemary Ayala wrote with 10 suggestions to overcome burnout, which she defines as: “Burn out occurs when someone begins to stagnate in the daily routine.” Here are some suggestions for getting that fire back:
1. Paint something you have never painted before.
2. Use a brush in a very unfamiliar size, either much bigger or much smaller then your normal choice.
3. Teach a child to paint.
4. Paint something in your favorite color regardless of the color it is “supposed” to be.
5. Put on music and paint to the rhythm of the beat. Now, keep up with it!
6. Put some meaningful words on little pieces of paper. Draw one out of the hat and paint something that expresses that word.
7. Paint a painting for the local shelter or clinic. Keep in mind who your audience will be.
8. Call a friend and laugh out loud.
9. Go see that someone special and get a big hug.
10. Say thank you because you know the next sunrise will be so awe inspiring you will just HAVE to paint it.”
In addition, one of my all time favorite people, artist Mark Mehaffey wrote: “Being “creative” is a BIG weight to carry. I don’t even think about it…”IT” comes naturally IF we can just find the time to do lots of work. For me anyway, one painting always leads to a bunch of ideas about the NEXT painting…which I go right to until a tangent (creative thinking) enters my mind. I ALLOW myself the TIME to explore my sometimes weird ‘tangents” Some of these have gone on for years.” Mark has been exploring acrylics and his newest paintings have been added to his CCP gallery.
Thank you so much to everyone. Again, I truly think artists are the nicest people!
Congratulations to David N. Kitler!
David has again been recognized for his truly excellent work. David’s “Harpy Eagle Montage” was awarded first place in Artist’s Magazine’s, The Year’s Best Art (December 2007) in the Animal/Wildlife category. His piece is a combination of graphite and acrylic on a toned board.
David camped out for three weeks under a harpy nest in the Panama jungle observing and drawing their every move. He has since been a guest lecturer at the Cornell School of Ornithology as a harpy ‘expert’. David’s Creative Catalyst drawing workshop teaches his quick method of documenting accurate information. His acrylic workshop will be released next year.
Craig Nelson’s Drawing Workshops
Build a solid foundation in the visual arts with Craig Nelson’s drawing workshops. Nelson draws with a variety of media (pastel, conte, charcoal) while he demonstrates and discusses the issues he has discovered are most important to success in drawing and painting. His incredible teaching style comes from years of experience as a professor at Art Center College of Design (Los Angeles) and the San Francisco Academy of Art College where he is currently the Department Director of Fine Art.
Drawing with Pastel & Charcoal
Drawing a Duotone Portrait
Drawing Gesture in Charcoal & Pastel
What are the invisible barriers to creativity?
(I write this thinking… there must be others out there in this boat….)
Creatives can be overwhelmed with the burdens of SHOULDs. We get in our head that we should sell, it should be pretty, it should be current, we should try to show our work, we should be anatomically accurate… the list is endless.
Recently I’ve reached a creative block. I know it is in NO small part due to just being too tired to put in the effort, but it is also because I’m bored with the direction of my art. It isn’t fun. (How many portraits of strangers can I paint?) Things are all starting to look the same, emotionally flat. The SHOULDs in my head are keeping my options for change very narrow. The fact is that there really is nothing keeping me from changing drastically, I just lack imagination!
It dawns on me that I’m afraid… afraid that I’m somehow not doing it right. How crazy is that? There is NO RIGHT, only satisfaction and dissatisfaction. I’m painting for myself, I am either happy with my success at expressing myself or not, and I’m clearly not happy with my direction. So I’m on an adventure to try and figure out why it’s not working for me; be it technique, design, medium, subject… or whatever. Perhaps it’s time to blow the lid off and try something completely new; perhaps acrylic or collage. I’ve vowed not to do anything until I’m excited about it. Until then I’m trying to ignore the SHOULDs that tell me I should want to paint… and I should be in the studio beating my head against a wall.
~ Lynn
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