Monday, March 29, 2010

Taking Time to Paint 


Before we begin this week’s blog, I want to remind you that our spring workshops are filling up and only a few spaces are still available. If you would like to experience the thrill of painting on location, please call me today at 415-606-9074 to reserve your place in April’s workshop on the 23-24-25th or in May on the 14-15-16th.
Pansies
Taking Time to Paint
During this time of year, as winter starts winding down and spring awakens with new possibilities and gifts, it take a little more time for spring to visit us at The Grand View Ranch because we’re located in the mountains at a higher altitude. After spending months inside the house, surrounded by snow, and watching the trees stand naked after losing their leaves because of the cold, I find myself lingering a little longer at the Home Depot nursery allowing the bright colors of the spring flowers to saturate my eyes. Pansies always make me smile. Their brilliant colors and delicate leaves make them fun to paint, and staring at their colors for a few hours especially when the world is still gray outside my studio window, makes the task of painting them very enjoyable. Before I left the nursery the last time I was there, I scooped up a few of these colorful posies to recreate them in my studio.
Painting flowers from life is a very challenging thing to do. No matter how fast you paint, the flowers change constantly either by following the sun that is beaming through the studio window or wilting from the heat of the light bulb. To paint beautiful flowers, an artist needs to have an agile hand for accuracy of brush strokes, an educated eye that sees the nuances of color and light, and confidence that the hours of painting day after day will produce a painting that sparkles with life.
In my power to create class, I constantly promote the commitment to painting every day, and yet, painting seems to be the first thing that artists drop when time runs short and there is too little time to get things done. Whether your desired art form is music, writing, painting, or even cooking, it is the most important thing you can do every day. Most of the excuses seem silly when you look back over the week and ask yourself why you did not paint this week. Imagine how you would feel if you had painted five paintings this week. What insights would you have had? What discoveries would you have made? Painting is not just something that you do when it is convenient to do so. If you wait until you feel like it or wait until you are inspired, you will never excel in the discipline of painting. Choose to paint first and then find the time to get the other stuff done. Believe me; the other stuff will still be waiting.
And the next time you walk past a flat of pansies or a bunch of roses and you think, “Wow! I would love to paint those flowers,” and then you hear yourself saying that you do not have time to paint: stop immediately, buy them, go home, and turn your phone off, and paint, paint, paint!
Note: As we enter the third year of posting this blog and preparations are nearly complete to publish a book of my paintings and writings, I want to thank you, the readers, for all your gracious comments that warm my heart, make me smile, and inspire me to continue offering my experiences and views of the world of art through this blog.
I have devoted my life to touch, move and inspire others to see and appreciate the beauty of art and its relationship to nature. And, as we travel through this great land with our 1970 Silver Streak trailer following behind our truck, I passionately desire to share the power and beauty of nature and art with others. For a FREE book on everything I know about painting go tohttp://www.thegrandview.com/

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Painting Hornbrook Barn



Hornbrook Barn


Just north of The Grand View Ranch and Mt Shasta, the quaint and picturesque farming community of Hornbrook has become the inspirational location for many of the new paintings that I plan to paint this year. This amazing red barn, just off the freeway near Hornbrook, catches my eye every time I drive to Medford, Oregon to teach painting classes. In my painting of the Hornbrook barn, I wanted to capture the change of seasons by contrasting the fallen dead oaks in the background with the fresh green spring grass in the foreground. I find the ever-changing theme of rebirth and renewal in nature fascinating. In my composition of this painting, I positioned the main focal point just off to the right of the barn, and then added the fence that darts along the foreground to bring the viewer’s eye to the focal point. Before I begin a painting, I think about why I am attracted to the subject that I am choosing to paint, what the message or personal observation is that I want to share with the viewer, and what composition will make my message clear and moving to anyone who sees my painting.


Painting with Intention


A great painting grabs the viewer’s attention immediately, and then holds it so the artist can communicate his message on the canvas. Yes, a message. Many paintings have little to say because the artist did not take time to ask the most important question, “Why am I painting this painting?” Painting is powerful. It is the most expressive artistic medium that there is. Leonardo De Vinci said that painting is supreme of all the arts because one does not have to read, watch, or listen for a long time to understand the artist’s intention. With one careful placement of a brush stroke, an artist can create all kinds of messages and meanings. However, it is all for not if the artist has nothing to say.


The next time you go on location to paint, try doing this before you begin. Ask yourself, “Why do I want to paint this painting?” and “what is the message that I want to communicate?” Then, begin your conversation with the future viewers and reveal your point of view by painting it for them.
I have devoted my life to touch, move and inspire others to see and appreciate the beauty of art and its relationship to nature. And, as we travel through this great land with our 1970 Silver Streak trailer following behind our truck, I passionately desire to share the power and beauty of nature and art with others. For a FREE book on everything I know about painting go tohttp://www.thegrandview.com/