Harmonious Color and Design Exercise
Choosing Colours
When choosing the right colour in my paintings I use a simple process of asking questions to establish what type of colour will look best. Once I have established the colour type the options are narrowed and I know exactly what colour to mix in order to create harmony or contrast. This process takes away the guesswork when mixing colour.
Do You Have A Hero?
I’m taking more time to mix colours that are ‘right’. Suddenly I hear a chorus of “What exactly is a ‘right’ colour?” Of course, there is no such one colour. A ‘right’ colour is one that looks absolutely gorgeous next to the colour around it. I’m not being haphazard and just seeing what appears – I’m thinking, what exactly do I want?
Building Layers with Mixed Media
How to Start a Painting
Some people agonize over starting their paintings, which is a shame really because it’s like setting off on an adventure – but the best sort of adventure. You don’t have to scale heights, get wet, lost or hungry, you don’t even have to leave home. But you ARE venturing into the unknown with very little idea of what will result from the experience.
Questions to ask...
New Beginnings...
I also really enjoyed letting loose with drawing and using dry media a lot more in my paintings when I was working on the large sized paintings. This added a playful looseness which I really liked and prevented me working in a straight-line towards finishing when after each painting session I would draw and scribble over the painting. Coming back into it the next day I would cover a lot of the drawing over but the little remnants that peeped through were really fun suggesting a naivety which I liked.
Finishing a Painting II
Is there ‘Precious’ in your Studio?
Finally, the insistent call of the outside world drags us away and we close the studio door on that tangled grid-locked mess of paint, hope, and self-belief. As we square up to the dishwasher and the dusting that secret smile is now a nagging sense of dread. Am I good enough? Why can’t I figure this out? I’ve killed my precious ….
Finishing a Painting
To Change or Not To Change Your Painting?
Tips to Title Your Painting
Now it’s time to carefully sign my name in the bottom right corner, lay down an isolation coat, a couple of coats of varnish and ….. drumroll please, GIVE IT A TITLE. The signing and finishing coats are simple, consider them done! But the title – ugh. My brain slumps in my head, solitary dying sparks fizzle – I’ve got nothing. Not a clue or even a microscopic gem of an idea. NOTHING!!
Be Battle-Ready with your Painting Process
The 4 Stages of a Painting
Painting is My Teacher
Some paintings have given me learning that has freed me up completely, adjusted my thinking and changed the narrative that plays in my head. One in particular I will always be grateful for as it gave me an anchor that ever since has kept me secure and absolutely embedded in the knowledge that whatever I do in a painting it will all be for the good.