Red Sky

Having fun with these small color studies in watercolor... They are painted on Strathmore "mixed media" paper, which is very smooth and absorbent. It's forcing me to put the paint down and let it be. It's a good exercise for a over-worker like me.

lucky ducks

Little warm-ups with watercolor.... This is the kind of day we're enjoying here in Michigan.... Aren't we the lucky ducks?

subject jumps.... hop hop hop

I've been skipping from non-representational (abstract) to representational,and back again. Keeps me on my toes.

 I'm downstate (Michigan) and sort of enjoying the limitations I have here. For example...I'm using the table as a studio space and only have watercolor, gouache and colored pencils. Wonder how long I can resist the art supply store that is a hop skip and jump from here. 

hop hop hop       hop hop hop        hippity hop. :)

watercolor...nothing quite like it

I'm down in Rochester through next week... No acrylics here at the condo... traditional transparent watercolor only.... well... not counting the colored pencils and oil pastels. I'm having fun getting reacquainted with watercolor. I just love how it does it's thing.

Between Worlds... color play

"Between Worlds" 6x6"
acrylic on canvas panel; (c)2012 L. Everett Finn

I taught a color workshop last week...and all that color mixing inspired me here. Unusual for me... not counting on strong value contrast to carry things.

What to do with your lame paintings....

Make cards or gift tags out of your lame paintings... Robert Genn suggests burning your paintings that miss the mark... but I have another idea. You can vent your frustrations by taking scissors or a craft knife to the paintings and then re-purposing them.... Make up some gift tags by cutting out some simple shapes and glue or tape them together. (I used double stick tape) The "To: and From:" can be written on the flip side with a sharpie marker. ...or make some cards by cutting out ornament shapes and hanging them on a tree branch drawn with colored pencils. (The "bad painting" ornaments can be cut out of canvas as well as paper.) You can make the card by quarter folding a piece of printer paper. The envelopes are "invitation" size and can be purchased at any office supply store. So instead of a bonfire...(though that sounds sort of good on this snowy, chilly day) ...snip snip snip... glue glue glue and spread some holiday cheer.

No Peeking While Drawing

Blind Contour Drawing.... What it is... and how it can help you!

Blind contour drawing is drawing the outside edges of something, without looking at the paper.  Let your eyes travel the edges of your subject, and let your pencil match the speed of your eyes. It's almost a trust exercise with yourself. The hardest part about it is NOT LOOKING!


Put on your non-judgmental hat... seriously, you'll need it. :)

And why would anyone want to do this exercise?

Because it trains your eyes to really look at the edges of something, and you'll probably end up with some very interesting drawings that you can then develop into some very interesting paintings!
 
Click here for more detailed instruction.

My friend and fantastic artist, Margaret Stermer-Cox, introduced me to "Blind Contour Friday's."  She's very dedicated to maintaining and improving her drawing skills with daily practice. If you want to improve quickly, daily drawing is the very best way to go about it. Check out what she does here.
Thanks for letting me share your terrific blog here, Peggy!