paint party Friday Spring Faces

I've been having the best time painting on paper again, with the Sketchbook Revival course (by Karen Abend) and learned it's important for me to keep my supplies out in view, right by the computer.

I went back through before the videos would be cut off, and painted a little portrait of each teacher with their page in my sketchbook. I took notes on their techniques, tried the exercises, and now can remember what they looked like.

This teacher was working in acrylics, which I've not done on paper (fabric paint is acrylic) and I didn't follow her technique but while I watched, I painted little flowers from memory.

Very "4-year old" versions, but I got to mix watercolor paints and see them blend on the paper, which was very fun.

Apparently I like to watch paint dry, lol


I also went to my art quilt group this week, and the nice women were very complimentary about my paintings, especially the little houses by Tamara LaPorte.

One person came over yesterday to try it with me, and I was reminded that teaching what you know helps teach yourself at the same time.




Not only was I lucky enough to have a playmate for the afternoon, but in sharing my knowledge, it firmed up in my mind and hands, just how to do something. A good teacher makes sure the student feels confident and safe to try something new. When she asked how to correct an aspect of her drawing, I was careful to make suggestions, letting her know it was her work.

We learn as we do.
Do you agree?  I think watching is good, but doing teaches me more.
For instance, a slight angle change on a face's nose, or space between eyes makes an enormous difference in a gesture or attitude. I love how these four came out!!
The blond at the top left, was done, then, uh oh, I went back and thought to add a little to her eyes, and got too heavy a line.
What can you do but keep going then? I darkened the lines over both eyes, and voila! she had cats eye liner on, and she had a smirk, and she had attitude! She might be my favorite now!

I'm often insecure in hairdos too, but I just boldly squiggled the top right woman and love! her hair.

It's intriguing to me what makes a person look male or female... so I did the bottom one as a man, and I think he looks like a man. The stray mark on the chin while sketching became a dimple, not that I started out with that.
It's the doing that teaches.
When I first tried to paint faces on paper, my teacher-friend started with face shape, dividing it into quadrants with straight lines, lots of rules. I hated it and they all came out weird. This teacher started with three straight dashes, two for eyes, one lower and in the middle as the tip of a nose.
She led me to the fun of drawing a face.
She also went on to collage and drip paint, and alter the image into a mixed media version that looked too busy and frightening to me. But...

The thing about learning is, we can take what we need from a teacher, and after learning a skill we can tweak it for ourselves to make our own art.

Learn, then make.
One morning I was listening to another talk by Brenne Brown,
 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JXOnFOXQk)
this time on how to overcome criticism as a creative person. I loved it and began painting as she talked. After all my supplies were right there...

I just used colors in order, from my little travel paint kit by KOI. smearing them according to how I felt. Brenne said, as creative people we are vulnerable to the critiques. She cautioned against saying "I don't care what people think" as we all know we're hard wired to fit into social networks, and we do care at some level.
The trick is to invite the critic, either real or inside us, in and have them sit in a side row, and to make our art anyway. Even if the inner critic says this is stupid, or like a 4 year old, or no one will like it, or worse, not respect us, sit them in a row so you mentally have control over them, but make your art anyway.
Then share it.
Making and sharing art that comes from our core, can make us feel vulnerable but that very
vulnerability is what makes us special.
Linking to
all seasons

Pink Saturday!
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