Morning Painting in the Garden

Earlier this year, I typed up a list of watercolor projects I wanted to take on, then propped the list up where I could see it.  

 When I have time & want a new project, my list encourages me to try one of the items and stretch in a new direction.

I took my paints out to my garden on a recent gorgeous morning to try number 3 on the list.

I started with a pen and ink sketch, then added watercolor.

I found that the light and shadow of early morning in the garden created beautiful contrasts to paint.  I enjoyed using permanent violet mixed with ultramarine blue to make dark purple shadows with spots of bright green leaves to mimic the way that some of the leaves caught the light, and others disappeared in darker areas. 

In the second painting, I skipped the drawing and sketched directly with watercolors, beginning with a loose, wet-in-wet sketch of the bright blooms, then adding in the foliage and shadows.

I have a good friend, Ryan McCormick, who teaches drawing & painting the Pittsburgh Center for Arts  and Media.  We were talking about being self-critical versus self-critiquing with our paintings.  

Ryan likes to challenge his students to name precisely what they don't like when they hold up their work and say, "I don't like it!"

Ryan replies, "What precisely don't you like?"

Once you ask this question, you can figure out how to fix that problem and steer your art in a new direction.  You have grown as an artist.

Also, you can ask this question:

What precisely do you like about your art?

I took this approach with this second art work, at first feeling frustrated by some white spots and hard wash lines in my painting.

Rather than giving up and saying "I don't like my painting;" I stood back, noticed exactly what I didn't like, and then addressed those problems.  

I also focused on what I did like -- in the flower scene that initially inspired me, and in my own painting.

I discovered that I was drawn in by the way the flowers caught the morning sun, and contrasted vividly against distant tree shadows.  So I tried to mirror that in my painting.

I also realized that I liked the loose flower shapes and the way the painting was really a negative space painting.  I was focused on defining the flowers and their leaves by painting the spaces around them.

It was fun to simplify the scene and not to get as detailed in the positive space as I had in the earlier painting, where I painstakingly left little white sunlight reflections in the blackberries

Now it's your turn to make some art, step back, and ask yourself those questions:  

What do you like?  

What don't you like?  

Be discerning and precise, because the answers will help you to grow and make discoveries as an artist.

Happy Creating!

Kathryn in Blue

 

I often hear my students say of their drawings that they're "not good enough." Or, they'll compare their work to another's, saying that their own is "not as good" as a classmates drawing.  I understand that feeling.  I often "hear" the voice of what I call the "Nattering Nabob of Negativity" sitting on my shoulder telling me I'm doing it wrong as I create.  Not useful, but a common human experience.

As a result of that critical voice, when I step back from my work, I often think I've done a poor job at trying to represent our model.  But, the next day, I take a second look at my work, and find that I can look with a less judgmental eye and see the beauty of what I've created.  When I'm drawing the figure, I've learned not to listen to that negative voice, and to just keep drawing, keeping my eye on our model as much as possible, and keeping a positive attitude.

Today, after creating the drawing above, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. I could see that I had gotten Kathryn's head too large, and I could see a departure from my usual realistic representation. I decided that instead of illogically disliking everything I turn out, I am going to arbitrarily like everything I turn out -- My opinions are all subjective anyway, and at least that way, I can see the successful aspects of my drawings more readily.  Why not?

I think the Nattering Nabob of Negativity makes us think that disliking our work represents a more cultured or humble outlook, or that of a serious art student striving to improve.  Putting anyone down doesn't seem encouraging to me.  Putting myself down least of all.  So here's to self-encouragement! May we all practice it as we create.

Because of the uptick in Covid-19 cases, models now join our Zoom class virtually like everyone else.  It's harder for everyone -- Kathryn had to construct a studio in her basement, with lights and curtains. Much more technical complication than when she models in person.

Though I always draw from a computer monitor, even when the model is in my studio (I want to draw the same image as my students), this time, the image coming back seemed cooler and bluer in tone. So, I reached for cooler colors than I usually do when drawing Kathryn, creating Kathryn in Blue.

In spite of all the challenges, Kathryn picked up her hula hoop and brought us some beautiful poses.  Here are her 3-minute gestures: