I got rid of my smartphone some months back because I decided my free time could be used better. I put a journal in my purse so that the next time I had 5-10 minutes, I didn't reach for my phone to check my e-mail or Facebook and used that time to sketch instead. While I really, really miss my phone, I realized I didn't need to have a computer in my hand all day long. What I really needed was a return to creating art, whether making sketches, painting or just having fun playing with paints. Here's a few:

Inspired by Brenda Swenson's 75-day contour drawing challenge, I thought my drawing skills could benefit by d.r.a.w.i.n.g   s.l.o.w.e.r.  The goal is not to get a likeness of your subject, but to pay attention to every line with your eyes and hone your observation skills by not lifting your pen off of the page.  

I may have lifted my pen occasionally.  Its hard to do it as one continuous line!  Pen is preferred over pencil so that you don't erase your mistakes.  Lines aren't supposed to be perfect.  Brenda Swenson explains it a little better here.  It takes only a few minutes to do a contour drawing and is a great way to "loosen up" before more formal drawing or painting.  As you can see from my contour drawing above, you can make out what the subject should be, a small boy in the grass with a chair, but I found it funny that I turned him into such a pouty boy looking like Winston Churchill.  Here is the reference photo:

I'll be posting more contour drawings periodically.  Try it, it's a fun exercise!

My previous post was about the three-day workshop I took with Joe Fettingis.  It was a small class, only about 10 people, so we got a lot of individual attention and more importantly, we each had a table to ourselves (no sharing)!  The other painting we worked on was Native American boy.

Here's what else I learned:

• Working wet-in-wet can much more controllable than I thought;
• How to create glowing skin tones;
• Reflected color is in everything!

Some things I discovered about myself as an artist during this time:

• Masking fluid is now my friend.  I'd never had much love for it, but Joe showed us his tricks in using it;
• I rediscovered and fell in love with my flat brushes once again.  I'd worked with round brushes exclusively for far too long and had forgotten how useful a flat brush can be;
• I let go of the fear of several things, including working on large format paintings, creating large washes, and fear of "wasting" paper.  It's actually easier to paint larger rather than squeezing detail in a tiny space.

I overcame a lot of mental blocks during these three days and learned skills toward future artistic growth.  I'm also ready to paint some more!

I highly recommend a workshop by Joe Fettingis, and if you take one in the future, or have taken one with him before, please let me know!

I recently attended a three-day workshop by Joe Fettingis where our class created two paintings, one of which is this bird, an Egret.

11x15” watercolor on 140 lb Arches cold press paper
Painting #49 of 100 Paintings Project

This was my first in-person workshop.  I’d previously taken wonderful classes online and learned through book or video demonstrations, but there is no substitute for a live experience with live feedback.

This workshop was life-changing for me.  I feel like I went from an artist who dabbled in sketches to a more confident painter ready to tackle larger format paintings.

Some things I learned:

• It is indeed possible to paint a rich, deep background in watercolor, which had always eluded me.
• How to obtain proper ratios of paint to water and when to use various ratios. I’d heard about this so many times before, but it wasn’t until Joe simplified the process that I understood it.
•  How to create a lighter value without adding a lot of water.
• Scrubber brushes are not just for correcting mistakes - use them to create movement in a painting as well.
• The relationship of brush to paper and how much pressure to use.
  

I’ll share more in a few days with the next painting we worked on, which seemed really complex, but when broken down in steps, was very manageable