Category: Newsletter

Birches by Tom Thomson

Paint Like Tom Thomson – 1 Day Workshop

Cheryl
Saturday May 25 at Westmount Branch Library in London, you can paint step by step through this beautiful painting “Birches” by Canadian artist Tom Thomson. Bring a bag lunch or plan to go to a nearby restaurant for the lunch hour. Also bring your own paint and a canvas or watercolour paper 16″ x 20″. This one day art event is like a mini painting retreat – fun and educational. For complete details and how to register, click here: Art Courses with Cheryl O 
Fruit in Crystal Bowl

Oil Painting Brushes

Cheryl
Here’s a tip for oil painters. Buy lots of brushes in your favourite sizes so that you can wait till the end of your painting session to clean out your brushes. It takes a lot of time and energy to properly clean oil paint from a brush. Better to set it aside on a paper towel, and grab a fresh brush when you change colour. That means the you can keep with the flow of the painting and leave clean up till later. Otherwise, you run the risk of not completely removing the colour as you continue on. Even a small amount of a complimentary colour left in the brush, can muddy your paint. Keep it fresh! 
Begonia Painting

The Introverted Extrovert

Cheryl
I have been aware for quite some time that I am an even split between extrovert and introvert. What that means in my life is, I really need some times with other people, and I also really need other times that I am alone. Both are very important to me. Most people have a tendency to be just one or the other. What I have only become aware of recently is, research into creativity reveals that highly creative people tend to have this kind of unusual split with the introvert/extrovert personality. I find that encouraging! It works well in my profession too. I love my teaching time and get lots of energy from sharing art techniques with students. I equally love my alone time, which is when I do my best painting. If creativity and personality traits is a topic of interest to you, here’s a link to an article: “After the Show – The Many Faces of The Performer”  by Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD. Although this article focuses on actors and musicians, certainly much of it applies to visual artists too.