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Recently I wondered how I’d fare painting a still-life – without an actual still-life set up in front of me. I wasn’t going to do it completely blind; I’d paint from reference drawings I’d done of the key objects, but the composition would be plucked from my head. >> Read the full post on my … More How to make like a lemon and just roll with it : Painting from imagination.
During July, my sons have a three week break from school. It’s mid-winter, and the risk of cabin-fever is high. Adjustments to the usual schedule must be made for everyone’s sanity, and – let’s be honest – to prevent scenes that end with someone shouting, “I will throw you through the nearest window if you … More Why I Stopped Painting and Started Drawing : The Art of Flexibility.
Call me changeable, fickle, inconsistent… I’ll even accept contradictory – because this week, after singing the praises of painting small, I am extolling the benefits of up-sizing your artworks and painting large. >> READ MORE HERE
This is a post my teachers would probably disagree with. My painting teacher always told me to work large. The theory behind this is simple: Working at a larger scale with larger brushes helps a beginner to paint a little more loosely, and hopefully not get too bogged down with the details. It can also … More Painting Small v. Painting Large – A beginners tip, Part 1
When do you know that the painting you’re working on is complete? I was asked this question recently, and I remember asking the same thing of my oil painting teacher. She replied a little wryly with a paraphrase of a quote attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci: “A painting is never finished, only abandoned.” At the … More How can you tell when a painting is finished?
As I continue to explore the Ordinary in Nature, I can’t get past leaves. Perhaps this is because I have been hesitantly building up to painting this particular piece. Because it comes from a very personal place, I really wanted to do it well. So I’ve been taking my time in getting to it. This … More When in doubt, start small.
