One of my goals was to paint a picture that I would be willing to hang. Well, I'll tell you a story how of how there is currently a painting on my wall of my doing. My girlfriends and I went to a wine and painting class together. The idea of it was to enjoy each other's company drink some wine and play with paint. The instructor gave a step by step process of how to make a predetermined painting. Well, the painting that was predetermined had a very modern black tree branch with a black bird on it. It terrified me.
I am no artist. I am merely an adult stuck in the mind set of a child playing with her crayons. I dabble with colors, I play with colored pencils, I experiment with oil pastels. I like to mix colors and shade. I don't like hard edges, I don't like lines. I don't like precision when I dabble. While I play with color like a child, I still have the awareness and control of an adult who doesn't like to make mistakes. I am keenly aware of when my hand does not move the exact way that I want it to, when a line does not match exactly to what I am trying to mimic. So, instead of causing myself anxiety when I play with crayon, I just purposefully avoid creating art that requires precision. The painting that the class was teaching required lines, focus and precision. No way was I going to attempt that, just seemed stressful!!
So, I started googling sunsets. I wanted to paint something colorful and serene. I found a really pretty tropical sunset that I wanted to attempt. I started with my favorite color, purple and included bright colors like yellow, and orange. I started to get into it. When I felt like I made a mistake, I worked through it, I used other colors, I worked with it. There was no perfection. I worked with my flaws, I didn't see mistakes. I let go of my control. It was freeing.
It started off as an attempt to paint a tropical sunset, but ended up being a forest sunset, such as in Maine or Canada. It happened because I was having painting a palm tree, but easily painted a pine tree. In my life, I would have had big problems changing decisions that dramatically, but somehow in art I didn't have any problems. Is there a lesson here to be learned? Uhhh? I think so!
I am no artist. I am merely an adult stuck in the mind set of a child playing with her crayons. I dabble with colors, I play with colored pencils, I experiment with oil pastels. I like to mix colors and shade. I don't like hard edges, I don't like lines. I don't like precision when I dabble. While I play with color like a child, I still have the awareness and control of an adult who doesn't like to make mistakes. I am keenly aware of when my hand does not move the exact way that I want it to, when a line does not match exactly to what I am trying to mimic. So, instead of causing myself anxiety when I play with crayon, I just purposefully avoid creating art that requires precision. The painting that the class was teaching required lines, focus and precision. No way was I going to attempt that, just seemed stressful!!
So, I started googling sunsets. I wanted to paint something colorful and serene. I found a really pretty tropical sunset that I wanted to attempt. I started with my favorite color, purple and included bright colors like yellow, and orange. I started to get into it. When I felt like I made a mistake, I worked through it, I used other colors, I worked with it. There was no perfection. I worked with my flaws, I didn't see mistakes. I let go of my control. It was freeing.
It started off as an attempt to paint a tropical sunset, but ended up being a forest sunset, such as in Maine or Canada. It happened because I was having painting a palm tree, but easily painted a pine tree. In my life, I would have had big problems changing decisions that dramatically, but somehow in art I didn't have any problems. Is there a lesson here to be learned? Uhhh? I think so!
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