Any kid learning to play a musical instrument wants to play a tune from the first day of instruction. Folks beginning a painting class want to do a finished painting during the first lesson. Okay, maybe not
everybody, but we all know the urge of wanting to learn how to do something. And feeling the need to know it all now is natural.
We live in a results-oriented culture. Consequently, when we are learning a skill, too often we are focused on what we can do with it rather than relishing each step necessary to get there. We are more likely to
welcome shortcuts than to enjoy exploring the possibilities or finding fascination within the learning itself.
But there can be revelation after revelation when we slow down and allow ourselves to become aware of the magic within each step of the learning process. Recently, during a coaching session, one of my students told
me about a light bulb moment she experienced while doing a value study of her subject. She realized that by drawing without trying to get it right, but rather to explore the values what she was looking at, she discovered so much that she had not noticed before. It was within the act of drawing itself that she realized what she wanted to do with the painting.
Any master musician knows the necessity of working through and piecing together a performance before going to the stage. Often, it's during that off-the-stage practice and rehearsal where
ideas are born, where new possibilities are discovered.
Master painters know this, too. Those who continue to grow, without getting stuck in some trend or without getting caught up in success only to spin tires thereafter, know the value of spending a
lot of time putting ideas together, exploring possibilities, and finding ways to make them work--giving more time to discovering than they do actually creating a painting.
IT DOESN'T NEED TO FEEL LIKE WORK
It can be fun studying what the visual elements are doing to make an image appear as it does, experimenting with various composing ideas, discovering how many ways a light source can change how an image
appears, and exploring the mysteries of color.
I call it feeding the artist!
"Wren" Dianne Mize Watercolor on Paper
Notes: 31 gesture drawings of wrens doing different things, 12 color studies, multiple hours studying wrens from my kitchen window, less than two hours creating the painting...
Enjoy a weekend of finding fun in visual discovery!
During my Language of Painting series, I explained the role of our visual elements. If you'd like to review those roles to better understand the behavior of elements, here are the links to each of those
discussions: Color --Value -- Shape -- Texture -- Size -- Line and Direction
You can access the archive of all my newsletters (as well as the Quick Tips and other stuff) at any time by going HERE.
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