Art Classes Teach you More

Art Classes Teach You More Than Techniques

Art Classes teach you more of Your Way to create. Once the class is over, who have you become in the process? Rather than going merrily along doing 100 ways to paint flowers, what if we take a deeper look at what’s going on inside. What’s our way?

Sometimes we see what the ‘master’ does, and duplicate it with great results. That’s how the Frida painting above happened. It just flowed, simple & easy. But once the class is over, we need to find ways to keep all that we’ve learned going & growing.

I can see I love to work with a big brush, loose and free. I can do a sketch first, but then comes the large brush that can wipe out everything. So my best subject is one close up. Let that face take up the whole space, or else work on a really large canvas. Then the large brush can swipe & flow, and still keep the image alive.

Painting like this means not getting tight on details until the very end. So we shouldn’t start with those big eyes, but instead move around the whole canvas right from the beginning. Put in background to frame the face, get the medium tones in first. Draw with a round brush to get the placement of features. Then put in some darks to guide the process. How do you love to start a painting?

Art Classes Teach you More when it comes to palette choices

We would do well to stick to just a few colors. A simple palette works well, keeps us on track, and creates harmony throughout the entire piece.

Too many colors can often lead to mud, from my experience. But then you have a unique background to paint over with glowing tones showing through as though you planned it all along.

All these things happened in my piece today. I tried to fit in more of the body on a small canvas, instead of just focusing on the face. Disaster! Big brush wiped it all away. Maybe this is a good thing. It will make a great underpainting. Now I have to look at what works for me.

Too many colors ran me into a rabbit hole. Deep, dark, and lost, I’m going to be lightening up a bit, and redrawing a large, wonderful face on this colorful canvas, that I will love.

We must continue to encourage ourselves and each other every day as we move through the process of art or life. Continually re-evaluating our judgements, making corrections, and setting ourselves right is a constant confidence builder. Plus this helps us to not get stuck. In addition, it helps us to live in mindfulness and savor every moment of the day.

Every piece is either a masterpiece or a learning piece. So what is Your Way to create masterpieces? How do you begin to not end up with mud? Who are you becoming as you assimilate all you’ve learned?

I’m going to be selling my art, the good ones, adding more pieces, at Pat Gullett Designs Original Art Page. Each piece is a segment of my story of today: my feelings, my approach, my how I deal with falling into rabbit holes. Sign up for regular updates of life & art. Thanks for being here.