paint wildly

Unleash Your Creativity

January 12, 2014 by alaskanraven

Paintings are fun to look at. They evoke all kinds of emotions and help us see our world in different ways.

A painting can be YOUR inspiration
Be on the lookout for paintings that make you want to do YOUR own art. You might express your creativity in baking, gardening, carpentry or even designing rockets.
Whatever your choice of self expression:
1) find paintings that inspire you to create.
2) buy the painting(s)
and
3) put them in a prominent place in your home or office.

Why?
It will put a smile on your face and enthusiasm in your morning routine. Invest in yourself. That is a good investment. Buy art that you like, don’t let others influence your decision. Choose art that speaks to you.

Would you like other ways to jump start your creativity?
-Stop waiting until you feel inspired
-Everyone is creative. That side often gets shut down early in our life. Bring it back to life.
-Play in the “creative sandbox”. There is no right or wrong way.
-Treat yourself kindly.
-Commit fifteen minutes every day. Or make it five minutes if that seems more doable. The point is to spend a few minutes every day focused on your creative passion. If it evolves into more time, bonus. But five minutes every day will evolve into great achievement. I promise.
-Keep it fun and be open to innovation.
-Keep focused on doing it. That is the accomplishment. Give yourself the freedom to not expect to like the final product.
-Celebrate the fact that you simply played. It gets the mind to work.
-Paint wildly!

Find out more about this painting here

It is Four Below Zero, Time to Think About Warm Ocean Sunsets

March 12, 2010 by alaskanraven

It’s four below zero at my studio. Seems like a good time to be painting an ocean sunset. i’ve been cooking on some painting ideas from what I saw a few weeks ago in Florida. I love sunsets and watching the sun set on the ocean is a wonderful treat. I’ve got photos and images that have been bouncing around in my head. I put on some loud music, wearing several layers of clothes to keep warm and think warm, warm sun, warm ocean.

I’m working on a larger sheet today and a bigger brush. 18″ x 24″ paper and a 14″ Kolinsky sable brush.
Opened up a new Arches paper block. It feels so good to open a new watercolor block. Arches paper is one of the best. I sliced the black sheet off the top with a knife and put it in the drawer to save for my granddaughter. I think she might like to make something out of that beautiful black sheet of paper.

My palette of paint has been soaking up water that i sprayed on fifteen minutes ago. It’s getting nice and gooey. Pulled out my favorite brushes. I won’t talk about how much I spent on these brushes. It’s best to not think about that. Better not to think about the cost of the paper or even the paints at this point. Buy the very best quality. It makes a huge difference. The best quality supplies make it easier to paint well and makes your final painting more permanent and a better investment for your collectors. Invest in quality supplies.

Did a faint pencil drawing of what I thought I might want to do. Worked and thought about the composition and how I was going to use the color. It is very important to not paint the colors and values that you see in the photos. The camera gives you a flat cyclops view of distorted color. It will never have the life or beauty of the real scene. Our eyes are amazing and they capture nuances that the camera can’t see. So, you have to interpret the photos, rely more on the images in your head, your sketches and be very very careful of those photos. Be aware of surprises that appear in the paint on your paper.

I decided on the placement of the sun by thinking about the thirds of the painting. Be aware of the rule of thirds. Divide the paper in 1/3’s vertically and horizontally. It is a good idea to put your center of interest where the lines intersect. It’s a good starting point and you can adjust from there. Pushing it a bit farther in one direction or another adds a bit of ‘stress’ and drama. I do my thinking at this point but when i pull out the brush and load it with color, I try to stop thinking and focus on play and have fun with the pigment exploding into each other, wet areas and dry areas. If I am too careful, that carries through and it isn’t as much fun to look at the painting. Be brave and paint wildly!

Another important thing is to stop before you overwork it! When you think you might have something. Stop, take and break and let it dry. You should start a different painting of the same thing, try and be even more wild the second time and try out some things that you didn’t on the first round. You can move faster the second time.

Doubt Cramps Energy

February 21, 2010 by alaskanraven

“To believe is to be strong. Doubt cramps energy. Belief is power.”

I heard this quote while watching the tv documentary “Into the Storm” recently on the airplane. It was a drama about Winston Churchill. This quote was said by Roosevelt and he attributed it to Dr. Peabody. The quote really captured my attention and I stopped the movie and wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget the wording. It is a strong concept and explains how we can become frozen when we don’t believe in ourselves.

“Doubt cramps energy” That is so true, we travel on a merry go round of second guessing ourselves and wasting energy on doubt when we could be spending that same energy on moving forward. Taking chances. Learning from failures. Take the chance and paint wildly. Put those paintings online. Ask the gallery for a show. It all takes the willingness to believe in yourself.

If we are caught in that doubt, we can break free by asking the question “what is the worse that could happen?”. This can diffuse doubt if combined with the ability to laugh at yourself. The worse that could happen is you realize the painting is a failure. Or you regret that you don’t like the painting after having it online. So what? Take it down. It might have inspired someone else to do a painting. Some good could have come from your willingness to show it to the world.

I like to encourage people to paint. It gives you the gift of really seeing and experiencing the world around you. You benefit from the experience even if the painting is a failure. Keep painting and the quality will improve. If you ignore the doubt and believe in yourself, your brushstroke will be stronger, your color choices will be more daring. Believe!

Draw Often and Paint Wildly

October 30, 2009 by alaskanraven

One of the best ways to get started painting is to draw or sketch. Sketch ideas. Sketch simple compositions. Draw often. Do simple studies of the same composition but make slight adjustments to try out different versions. Try five or six different variations. This will help you find the best solution, the strongest composition. It will be helpful later to use it as the reminder for your painting. Decide what would be the best medium to capture your subject. Decide on size and medium. It is often a good idea to take the sketch a step further and try it in some different colors. Try colors that you haven’t worked in before. Step back and look at it fresh and now decide if you are going to do a larger painting of your subject. Then jump in and PAINT WILDLY! This is the best way to find surprises and do something different than you’ve ever done before. Try out a new color, a different brush. Work differently. Do less thinking and more feeling.