Author: Cheryl

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Go Green with Blue

Cheryl
I used to be horrified about the amount of paper towels that I went through as a painter. Too many trees! Then one of my students introduced me to blue shop towels. You can get these at local hardware stores. These towels are sturdy and absorbant. If you are using watercolour or watermixable oils, at the end of your session you can quickly rinse the towel out and use it again and again. Even with acrylics, the towels are so much more absorbant than regular ones that I use a lot fewer. Hope you will also go green with blue towels – and thanks for the tip Judy S. 
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Today’s Chuckle

Cheryl 2 Comments
I thought that I’d try to make you smile on a Monday. I’m not sure exactly what year this photo was taken, but it seems that when the stork left me, he forgot … his legs. But the coolest thing of all about this photo? That straw hat has a plastic palm tree on top of it. How cool is that? 
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Calling It Done

Cheryl 1 Comment
A not uncommon problem for the visual artist is how to decide when a painting is finished. This applies especially to works that are moving toward abstract. Here are some questions you can ask to help determine whether a painting is done. 1. Has it captured the essence of what you wanted to express about this subject? 2. Does it have a center of interest that is in harmony with the whole? 3. Does the eye find a pleasant pathway to explore the painting? It’s always a good plan to leave it alone for a few days, then check it out again. Lastly, don’t be afraid to leave some mystery – undefined edges or shapes – so that the viewer’s imagination can participate in the work too.  
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Glazing

Cheryl
There are some similarities between a glazed painting and a glazed donut. The painting definition for glazing is ‘a transparent colour placed ontop of a previously dry colour, so that the previous colour shows through.’ This effect of transparent layering of colour can give beautiful subtle shifts in colour. The light traveling through those layers does indeed give a different effect than just mixing that colour to start with. It’s most challenging with watercolour. For best effect in watercolour, make sure that the paint is completely dry, and use a quick light touch to apply the next colour. You may be surprised how little the first colour moves if you do this quickly, because it takes a few seconds for the first colour to reactivate with water. Sedimentary colours, which sit up on the surface, make this more difficult than working with staining colours. If you aren’t sure which is which, a good quality artist colour will tell you on the tube. However the best thing is always trial and error – that’s how most of us learn. And donuts? Well, with a sugar glaze on a chocolate donut, the colour of the chocolate does show through. Conclusion: the main difference between a glazed painting, and a glazed donut is … calories. 
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Lines in the Sand

Cheryl 2 Comments
“Realism is condemned by those artists whose poverty of technique does not permit them to express it.” Walter J. Phillips –  “Photo-realistic painting is to impressionism what a ballroom waltz is to Argentine tango. Once you’ve done tango, the waltz seems stilted, controlled and oh so dull. Give me the passion, the sexiness and the bravura of the tango, thank you very much.” Brenda Behr –  “Realism has to be such high quality, you can’t fake it. It’s all hanging out there like the laundry.” Nelson Shanks –  “The contemporary art audience, having had a century of flotsam and jetsam flung at them, think that super-realism is miraculous stuff.” Sharon Knettell –  All these lines in the sand. Where do you stand? Do you prefer more realistic or more impressionistic art? 
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The Trouble with Different

Cheryl
Ceramic artist Eva Zeisel, whose work has been recognised by the Museum of Modern Art as masterpieces of contemporary design, says this about ‘being different’. “This idea to be different is not my aim, and shouldn’t be anybody’s aim. … you can’t always try to be different. I mean different from different from different. …and no creative thought or created thing grows out of a negative impulse. A negative impulse is always frustrating. And to be different means not like this and not like that.” (From “Creativity – Flow & the Psychology of Discovery & Invention”, author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) Perhaps some artists have been confused on this issue, and it may explain why some recent art is different, but not inspiring. Truly valuable creative work seem to be a mix of drawing from past worthy creations, and bringing an original twist or addition to it. How can a visual artist hope to make great art, if they are unwilling to study the great art that has gone before? Just for fun, here’s a link to see some of Eva’s pottery –  Pottery images Eva Zeisel 
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Who’s Driving?

Cheryl 1 Comment
“You are the only one with a front seat in your life. You are the only one with a 360 degree view. Why on earth would you let someone else drive?” Cheryl O – This doesn’t mean that you don’t take, and even seek out, good advice. It does mean taking ownership of the decisions you make – both good and bad. And there will be both; it’s called being human. I apply this to my art too. I enjoy getting lots of comments from others, even for a work in progress. I bring paintings in progress into class so my students can not only see them at various stages but also comment on them and develop critiquing skills. I also believe in encouraging live-in critics of all ages to give their 2 cents worth. When I was a beginner painter, I was delighted to discover that my youngest son (age 8 at that time) had a great eye. “Mom, that yellow is too wimpy.” And he was right! Artists or non-artists, occasionally a different set of eyes can pick up something in a painting, good or bad, that you will wonder how you missed. But always, I am totally aware that I am the one holding the brush. And I’m not afraid at any moment to reject any advice, no matter how strongly expressed, and carry on in my own unique and very human way.