Balance

How does one find balance in the midst of chaos? Once again my studio is out of order. It is a good thing that I am absent for a couple of weeks while the heating is being installed. There is a point of balance. I am grateful that my mind will be occupied with interests other than ordering my chaos…. I am grateful for my husband’s sense of humour and his never ending patience. I am grateful we have a place to come home to. Deep breath. Life is good. Over the next few months my temporary quarters will give us the time to consider more permanent alternatives and to decide on the priorities each of us wishes to choose. In the meantime I will expand upon the wonderful insights of the last workshop on Cortes Island. There is so much to explore and to share in this wonderful world of visual expression. Until next week, happy painting!

Juicy Strokes

Thirty-five strokes

Twelve strokes

Strokes are some of the distinguishable marks that separate painting from photography. Strokes allow the artist to interpret, to abstract, to simplify what is seen, or what is felt. Often when I am teaching I ask the students in what direction does the grass grow? Is it top down or bottom up? By flowing the paint in the same direction as the plant grows we have a better chance of creating a semblance of the object. Wild grass is a long way from manicured as well. By twisting the brush as we flow the paint in various directions the “grass” becomes more realistic in an abstract way. Length of stroke is another consideration. How long is the grass? The best method is to use juicy strokes. Juicy is full, fluid colour and body. Loading the brush with semi-mixed colours we get streaks that look like stems. Next time you are out for a walk in the country, or stop the car, take a look at the grass in the ditch before it has been mowed. The colours will amaze you. Enough about grass! The images are examples from the Cortez workshop as well. The exercise was using juicy strokes in a minimal matter. How few strokes can one use to create a painting? I managed twelve. How low can you go?

Hollyhock Beach

Disgruntled with some of the results of my painting and the fact that I had ruined a book, I went back to watercolours. I was not in a good mood. I was feeling frustrated and my painting was weak when the instructor suggested that it could not be improved because I was using watercolour. There is something deep inside my psyche that will not permit me to roll over and play dead. Just tell me I can’t do something and watch me find a way. I looked at the foreground again and I had to admit it was very poor. No balance, no depth, no contrast. Sigh. I looked around for a solution. There were some smaller trees just on the edge of the beach and the grassy knoll upon which I was standing. I looked at the pile of driftwood and decided that it needed some deeper hues. Taking my brush loaded with pigment I slapped in the tree carefully painting around the sprigs of grass that I had drawn. Much better. The light was too soft. Taking some more darks I developed the shadow areas within the wood. Before it dried I dropped in another strong colour and watched it mingle and pattern. Lovely. Who said watercolour cannot be fixed? I think I will go back to acrylics.

First Attempts

Wandering through my favorite store I spotted something I might need when I went on the acrylic workshop the following month. I made a note to buy it when the best sale of the year was on. Sale or no sale my bank account diminishes drastically when I make my purchases for the year. This item was a wet palette so the acrylic paint would not dry out as quickly. In the hot Cortez sun and dry wind it turned out to be the most useful tool I brought. Not knowing how to use it at first I put it away on the first day in my back pack. The lid is air tight, not water tight. Unfortunately I had paid little attention to the book I had sitting on the seat until the next morning when I spent some time separating pages with paper towel. Sigh. In any case what you see before you are the results of my first efforts at painting en plein air with acrylics. I can certainly understand the attraction to this type of paint. They dry almost as quickly as watercolours and they have far more capacity for changing unwanted passages of colour or drawing. They are a little more difficult to clean up and that is why I buy inexpensive brushes for acrylic painting. It was a delight to experiment and discover. There is no end to the possibilities.