Friday, November 3, 2017

ART DOESN'T COME EASY


What qualities best describe you?
Adventurous, resourceful, honest, resilient, persistent?

We all can find a little of ourselves in those words, but persistence stays at the top of my list. 

Watercolor is hard. I am determined though. I keep working at watercolors, and sometimes I'm satisfied with the result, other times I'm not. I first learned to watercolor using layers of washes. In a new class, I am trying to learn direct painting, where I put a stroke of color down, decide if it is the right color, and then add other colors directly to the wet paint. Sometimes this technique works for me, sometimes it doesn't.  Some days I feel like picking up my art supplies and throwing them in the trash. But I don't. 

Instead, I follow a quote from a greeting card, "If things aren't going RIGHT, go LEFT." I find other ways to help me over the bump that occurs in every creative process. When I try too hard and focus too much on little details, I have to remind myself to relax, breathe, and feel the movement of the brushes or pencils that I'm working with. Sometimes I step back and do something completely different. Yesterday I spent the day organizing parts of my workroom (again). 




This last month while I continue with my watercolor class, I answered an online challenge to do a quick postcard-sized watercolor of the same landscape every day (I excluded weekends). None of the paintings are worth framing, but they were a good way to release all the inner demons who tighten me up, who lurk behind my brush and zoom in on all the little flaws, leaving me cranky and disheartened.




At the end of the sequence, I realized I was much more relaxed with the direct painting method I have been trying to learn. Again, the new, unfinished painting is not worth framing, but I feel I have a better understanding of what I like about watercolor and how to add in the new techniques I'm learning. I keep trying.




10 comments:

  1. "If things aren't going RIGHT, go LEFT." 'love it and I think your watercolours are lovely and if I could paint that well I would frame them! Thanks for the inspiration as always, Martha!

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    1. You are welcome! I'm looking at watercolor painters that I admire and hope one day I can paint as well. Maybe not. It's still fun to mess around.

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  2. thanks for sharing this process. The challenge sounds like it's quite productive. Paint on!

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    1. Yes, that challenge was different because I had to paint the same scene all month. Different than just doing 30 painting. I learned more that way. Thanks for your comments, Teejay!

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  3. Lucky me...That "Hope" postcard is hanging in my kitchen. You seem to be a bit hard on yourself. You have literally framed your watercolor efforts on today's blog. Both works are as professional looking as they get. My dear friend, Please Don't Stop! Keep going. I predict fame and glory.

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    1. Aren't we all hard on ourselves? I'm having fun. I keep hoping I will paint as well as some of the painters that I admire. If I don't, I'm having fun anyway! Thanks, Jan, for being such a consistent reader of my blog. You never know when another postcard will show up.

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  4. Howdy would you min sharing which blog platform you're working with?
    I'mplanning to start my own blog in the near
    future but I'm havging a hard time making a decision betrween BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
    The reason I ask is because your design and style seems diffferent then most blogs and I'm looking
    for something completely unique. P.S Sorry for getting off-topic but I had to ask!

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  5. Thanks for the question: I use Blogger because it was the recommended as the easiest platform to use. I've used their templates to design the blog site. I am an artist, trained in graphic design, which maybe why my blog looks different than most. Good luck with your blog!

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  6. I loved your artwork; I would put them on a frame. I hope someday I can make one that is worth framing too. I just started my painting lessons for a week now, and I'm excited to learn more. My grandmother was a painter, and she gifted me a set of art supplies such as watercolor and a set of brushes.

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    1. Thank you, Serena, for your comments. I hope your painting class will inspire you to continue with art. Your grandmother would be proud!

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