rSo in this time and age there is a never ending list of art materials to choose from. I have gone through quite a list of mediums to work with myself and each time it is a learning curve. Often times I figured things out the hard way - just doing it wrong and getting frustrated by the results.
Taking workshops didn't seem to work for me as I just couldn't paint something someone else chose for me so I always dropped out. I did however realize afterwards that I always learned something anyway. Now I have a grand total of 3 workshops under my belt - 2 with David Langevin and one with Brazen Edwards and I have availed myself of many demos at Opus. All of it has helped a lot. Ultimately though you have to rely on more than that. Practice is by far your first tool but I have found it goes better if I have the right knowledge to put into practice. Lucky for us we live in the day of unlimited information. Not all of it will be helpful but turning over every leaf and researching your materials will really help propel your art forward. Sometimes it is just a small something you read or hear that makes sense of what you have been struggling with. As more artist materials have come on the market they have also become more 'technical'. Find out everything you can about your medium and the best ways to utilize it. Go to YouTube, contact manufacturers, check out blogs (not all of those will give you good information or advice) but learn and compare it with your own experience to improve what you are doing. Just learning about colours and pigments alone can help you with composition and execution. Never stop taking time to research and to learn from other artists. I really wish more of them were willing to share their insights more freely (that's how artists learned in the old days) but wherever and however you go about it - learn all you can! David Langevin is a wonderful artist and teacher and offers a treasure of knowledge on his website for others to learn. I want to be like him in my willingness to research and in my willingness to share what I do know to help others grow in their artistic adventures.
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So this month I finally got why artists always say it's easier to paint large.
For the most part I have been working in smaller formats for various reasons and I was of the opinion that you just use smaller brushes when you are painting smaller. That is certainly true - but - It turns out that the bigger format just allows for more subtle details and effects. When you paint in a small format a lot more editing is needed to create the impact you want as the artist. Because the human eye can take in only so much at that scale you have to' trick' the viewer to see the right things. On a larger scale painting you get to just throw yourself into the image with gusto and the details help create the impact and effect you are after. Some detail just happens in a sense because the scale of the work allows for it. I experienced that this month while working on 3 larger paintings for a venue that wants to showcase my water art. One of the walls is quite high up and at least 20ft away from where people can view it. Obviously only bigger pieces worked there. When I did portraits I always painted large and found it much easier to do so. In a way you could say I rediscovered that bigger is better - and - easier too. Such fun! So it's been a long while since I posted on my journal and it's been brought to my attention that I really should be doing this more often. |
RamonaSelf taught artist and lover of all things beautiful Archives
March 2021
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