Monday, November 8, 2010

Art Every Day Month, Day 8

Day 8 and A Blog Post About it on the Same Day!

Today I made myself work fast and loose.  Or at least I gave it my best shot.  I also made myself use a stiff bristle brush.  I usually - okay, always - use a soft bristle brush.  I like smoothing everything out and blending imperceptibly.  Except I like looking at art that isn't so painstaking.   So for today's painting (the portrait) I made the fast and loose vow and I used a stiff bristle brush.  I didn't do too badly at the fast and loose part.  I definitely got what you see done about twice as fast as I normally would.  I still blended things pretty thoroughly, though.  It's ridiculous, really.  You wouldn't believe the debate I had with myself about leaving the paint under the right eye a little rough!  You'd think it was world peace or something...



Then I sketched out this little guy and threw on a first layer of paint.


I'm starting to panic a little about the amount of work I need to get done before the holidays sales I'm working.  So far, I haven't finished a thing you've seen in the last week - except the jewelry.  I think sometimes that I freeze up when faced with big projects.  I find it tough to get myself to pick up the paintbrush or pliers, although once I get started I'm totally into it.  I've been reading Twyla Tharp's fantastic book, 
The Creative Habit:  Learn It and Use It for Life.  One of the things she talks about it is having a ritual that you do every day before you begin - something to "prime the pump."  I've been trying to think of something that would work for me, but no great ideas are standing out yet.  

Twyla's book on Amazon:




To learn more about Art Every Day Month click here,

1 comment:

gatheringwonder said...

love your style...come and play at Whimsical Wednesday. More here:
http://quotidianjournal.blogspot.com/p/whimsical-wednesday.html