Sunday, April 10, 2016

I just attended a painting workshop with artist Harold Walkup. The first thing he told us was what you can do to grow as an artist. I think this is something very important to remember. No matter how long we have been painting there is always room to grow and new things to learn. I just wanted to share his suggestions as I think we can all benefit from them. Here is what he recommends to keep growing and getting better:
1. Sketch. Keep a small sketchbook handy and do small sketches whenever you can. It's also a great way to plan out your paintings before you begin to paint. Drawing a small thumbnail sketch can help you with design and values before putting any paint on the paper.
2. Do "warm ups" each day. These are small postcard size paintings. You start by laying in shapes of paint, keeping some areas white. Use warm and cool colors and vary your shapes. He was able to come up with beautiful small paintings using this technique. It does help you warm up and get over the fear of the white paper.
3. Take workshops. It had been awhile since I had taken a workshop and I really felt I learned a lot from this experience. Every artist does things a little differently and it is wonderful when they are willing to share these techniques. I came away with new ways of painting and plan to incorporate some of these into my painting style to help improve my art. Watching videos and reading books on art help also.
4. Go to art exhibits and look at other paintings. See which paintings you like and ask yourself "why do I like this painting". This will help you to see what draws you to certain paintings. Then you can incorporate these into your own paintings.

My plan now is to practice what I have learned and then develop some new paintings using these new techniques. It also reiterates what I have learned before and inspires me to keep painting.

Happy painting!

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