Celebrating the Gift

"Among Friends"
Watercolour - 14x21"
Limited Edition prints available

Christmas seems to be a time that inspires reflection on the year we've just lived. As we do this in a year where many artists have experienced a slow down in sales, I think a check in with our hearts is enormously valuable. What if we focused a little less on how sales or career "success" went (even it went swimmingly), and a bit more on how connected we felt with that wonderful, creative flame that burns inside of us.

There is a gift we artists have been given that can sometimes get lost when looking through the lens of material accomplishment, a gift that is kind of the whole point. We get to experience the wonder of taking a flat, white surface and creating a whole world on it in a matter of hours. This is so incredibly cool that at times it takes my breath away. If I never made another dollar from my art, this alone would be worth the ride. :-)

On another note, there is a Christmas post on my blog, The Art of Living Attuned, that I would really love to share with you. Please stop by if you have a moment.

Merry Christmas amazing painter friends, see you on the other side.

Scottsdale Best and Brightest 2012

"Place Saint-Michel - Paris"
Oil on linen - 12 x 24"
purchase info

I'm proud to report the above painting was juried into the Scottsdale School of Fine Art "Best and Brightest" show. The show will run from January 5th to March 25th, 2012. I'll post a link to the show when they have one active on their site.

Quick side note to those of you who view my blog in your email readers - when I post a video on my blog, unfortunately it won't show up in the email. However, if you click on my blog title in the email, it's an active link that will take you straight into the blog where you can view the video. (In the case of my last post if you couldn't view the video, just click on the post title in this email and once you arrive at my blog, scroll down one post to find it.)

25 minutes well spent

 

A fellow painter who I've been trying to connect with (we will soon Jacquie, I promise!!) recently sent me this TED video.

I am in awe of, and so inspired by how this man has used his art in the world. Very worth watching if you have the time.

5 Keys to Guaranteed Growth as an Artist

"NaPali Coast"
Oil on Linen - 4x10"
Click here to bid

Do you bring the qualities of a highly engaged learner to your journey as an artist?

In observing many learners over the last few years, and continuing to be a very keen one myself, I have noticed that there are key ways to show up that facilitate accelerated learning.

I just taught a 4 day plein air workshop in Kauai, and the workshop participants ranged from some with years of painting experience to one wonderfully enthusiastic woman who was picking up a paint brush for the very first time in her life. Over the 4 days I had the joy of watching each of them have their own personal breakthroughs and move to a deeper level in their painting.

They worked hard, laughed a lot, cheered each other on, and grew in their skill as painters, in large part because each one of them brought these important elements of learning to the game:

Beginner's Mind
Knowing stuff is good, but it can block the way to new good stuff coming in. Practice moving what you already know from its position of priority - let it rest in the background while you create space for what there still is to learn.

Willingness to be Uncomfortable
It's amazing how many people greet this idea with enormous resistance. Like being uncomfortable is a bad thing. What if it's a good thing? What if it's a big fat doorway into awesome? I would argue it is, because that's where the growth lives.

If you're comfortable - you're stagnant. Doing the same old thing over and over. All that does is keep getting you better at what you already know. What about all the cool stuff you haven't discovered yet?

Full Engagement and Curiosity
Ok, so if you're willing to embrace the first two ideas, then bring along with you an undefended openness to the learning. Stand on the precipice of "What's possible here?", wildly curious, and dive in with both feet and a wide open heart. The best learners embrace the joy of not knowing and the adventure of finding out.

Relinquish Attachment to Outcome
Now that you're open, ready and set to learn, you will gain the most benefit if you can do one more thing. This is the most difficult, and most essential mindset to stand in. Let go of needing the painting to "work out in the end." I know - hard, but try. Play with paint, dance in the creative process, try things on, don't worry if they're right or wrong, just try them.

Workshops are not about performance pieces, they're about playing scales, learning new notes, seeing what it's like to play standing on one foot. Moving at top speed. Or in slow motion. Backwards. Upside down. Blindfolded.

Learning is about: "What happens if I stand in a place I've never been, what will I see that I have missed until now? How will this grow me? What magic is possible when I stretch beyond what I already know?"

A Little Faith
Expect to feel bumbly, inept, out of control, like you've stepped backwards in your skill level. It's part of the deal. Even though it may not feel like it now, you are expanding yourself in ways that will show up in the most unexpected places down the road. Trust this and give yourself to the learning - it will pay huge dividends in the end.


The Kauai gang - 2011 

Brush Cleaning Tips from the Pros

"Pair of Reds"
Oil on Linen - 6x8"
Click here to bid

If I was an independently wealthy being, my studio would be equipped with an assistant who's number one job would be cleaning brushes. One of my least favourite painting tasks, I sometimes put it off as long as possible before doing a thorough clean.

That said, your brushes are your tools, and caring for them well will go a long way toward getting the most out of them, both in longevity and function.

I recently stumbled across a great article with cleaning tips from several artists, you can view it here.

How I tackle mine:

• Wipe off all the excess paint with paper towel.
• Give it a good swish or two in thinner (I use Gamblin Gamsol), followed by another good wipe with paper towel
• I then use Master's Brush Cleaner (the big tub), but dish soap or bar soap will also do.
• Get some soap on the brush and then using the palm of your hand, the inside of half a tennis ball, or the bottom of the sink - swirl it around to loosen up the paint and give it a good rinse - repeat this step until no more color comes out of the brush.
• Finally I dry it, dip it in Turpenoid Natural, and give it a quick wipe leaving some of the turpenoid in to condition the hairs.

If I have 10-15 brushes in various sizes, this job takes 20-30 minutes, so I usually only do it about once a week. I don't use a quick dry medium or alkyd paints, so the paint in the brushes is still soft enough to be easily removed by this process as long as I wipe the excess paint out and give them a swish in Gamsol at the end of each painting session.

Great music is a definite asset. Choose your mood and get down. :-)

How to See in Value

Still life value study - 6x6" (demo)

A couple of months ago I put out a challenge to anyone who wanted to take on doing 50 value studies in 30 days, ideally from life. We also set up a challenge over on the Daily Paintworks site for those who wanted to simply take one crack at it. (This challenge is still on if you want to join in.)

The idea is to use only 4 values (white and black included) to portray your subject. What this forces you to do is make decisions about where values must be pushed darker or lighter to stay within the limited range, which has the serendipitous outcome of shapes naturally being linked together into interesting patterns. Result: strong design sneaks in the back door while you're busy thinking about reducing values. Kinda like magic.


Is working from a B&W reference cheating?

One of the painters over at DPW, Gloria Zucaro, wrote to ask: "As I am preparing to do the challenge of the week I am wondering if it is "cheating" to see the values in your color photo by turning them to grayscale?"

A key skill you are working on developing with this kind of exercise is honing your ability to see color as value, one of the most difficult things to learn in our artistic journey.  The more you develop this skill, the stronger your paintings will become as you learn to design great patterns of light and shadow while looking at a subject in color. Printing a B&W photo is not so much cheating as it is taking a short cut that bypasses a valuable learning opportunity.

50 in 30 - the learning:

Jason Gunby (would link to his blog but he doesn't have one - yet) was one of the few artists who took my 50 in 30 challenge all the way to the end (super proud of you Jason!) One of his efforts is shown above. I absolutely love the abstract quality of this study. There is a strong, balanced variety of shape size and he has used form and line in a dynamic way to pull the viewer in.

Here's the wisdom Jason reported back after completing the challenge:

"Once I did a few studies I found that my attempts were pretty weak.  At that point (like you said on your blog) I realized that this could be an important opportunity for growth.  In the process of painting these value studies, helped by sheer repetition of the challenge, I rediscovered the value of relaxing and accepting the struggle and whatever my best efforts created.  In doing so I began to enjoy the process of painting more--as in this quote 'artwork is more of a verb than a noun'. "

Great work Jason, and I also want to send out a big congrats to Sunny Delmer who dug in as well and stuck it out to the end. You guys rock!

Heli-Painting with Robert Genn - 2011

Photo of Tamarak Glen in the Bugaboos.

The weather gods smiled on us this year for our 2nd heli-painting trip into the Bugaboo mountains of British Columbia. We had 3 days of bluebird skies- spectacular! Tamarak Glen is an especially powerful location with so many compositions it's a challenge to narrow it down - the requests rolled in for more time here next year.

For those of you wondering how this kind of a trip works - here's the goods:

The accommodation is a gorgeous lodge in the most unlikely backcountry wilderness with private rooms, queen size beds and feather duvets. The cuisine is 5 star, and all the painters gather for dinner each night to share and relive the day's adventures. The lodge also has a hot tub on the roof, so often the conversation continues while floating around under a starlit sky. This year there were stars, a full moon and Northern Lights - pretty nearly perfect.

Robert Genn painting at Pearl

Each day we fly by helicopter to one or two magnificent locations, and once we have been deposited and the heli has left, the painting begins. Robert and I do demos and lots of circulating and giving feedback and pointers, but the priority is painting time for the artists, and often we all just paint together as a group.

Nathan Cao, Bob Genn and Don Hodgins on Rocky Point Ridge.

There are two things I've noticed each year we have immersed ourselves in this truly unique environment to paint - the artists improve in leaps and bounds, and a wonderful bond forms between the group that is fostered by engaging in a shared experience filled with camaraderie, challenge and heart-stoppingly beautiful inspiration.

Robert about to demo on Black Forest Ridge

Each painter develops a whole lot of work, anywhere from 5-15 studies each, and on the last night we gather them all together for review and critique. It is truly moving to see well over 100 paintings created in 3 days by one group of artists. So cool to observe the incredibly varied ways of seeing the same landscape, and each person's clear progress from beginning to end as they find their feet and became more deeply connected with the environment.

The crew - 2011.

Heli-painting is a truly extraordinary adventure. If you'd like to join us next year, more details can be found here.

Please log on to my Flickr link if you want to see more photos from this year's trip. (Make sure you click on slideshow view to see the best quality images.)

Paintings from the trip coming soon!

The #1 Reason to Enter Juried Shows

"Denman Island"
oil on linen - 14 x 24"

I recently read an article titled: Awards and Ribbons - Who Really Cares? While the author, Jack White, makes some valid points about cost vs. financial payback, and the potential for misguided egoic motivation in this pursuit -  I believe a very important payoff is missing from his argument.

If you don't read his entire article (though I think you should) - it makes the point: "All the juried ribbons and plastic trophies will not help you generate any real sales or give you fame. What do you want to do, win ribbons or earn money?"

These are two options available to us. I would like to add: What if your goal is to become the best artist you can in this lifetime?

Raising the Bar
Is there space for more than simply winning awards or selling paintings? I believe some of us go after the awards not because we think the awards will sell our art, but because of what happens to our art in pursuit of them.

If you want to play in the big leagues you have to hone your skills to a big league level. There is a vast difference between assessing your painting from the perspective, "Is it saleable?", and a perspective that asks, "Could it hold it's own beside the high caliber painters that will likely be entering this show?"

If your primary focus is making money, this might feel like the long way around. Perhaps unnecessary. Perhaps even a recipe for disappointment and dissatisfaction.

If your primary focus is mastery, I propose there's enormous value to be had here, despite the sometimes frustratingly high costs associated with it. As for the sting of rejection, put your game face on - stiff competition is the point.

Determined Practice
Ultimately it comes down to what Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, calls 'determined practice'. You will get somewhat better putting 10,000 hours of brush time behind you.

You will achieve excellence and rise to the top of your game if the 10.000 hours includes consistently focusing on your weaknesses with the intent to replace them with both skillful handling of your chosen medium, and mastery of the underlying principles of painting in general.

I believe in the end this choice will lead you to both extraordinary satisfaction with your art, and the financial compensation that it deserves. (Patience and faith required.)

"Los Cuatro Amigos"
oil on linen - 16 x 20"

"Denman Island", featured at the top of the this post, was recently juried into the 2nd Annual AIRS show hosted by the Federation of Canadian Artists in Vancouver this October.

"Los Cuatro Amigos" has just been juried into the Oil Painters of America 2011 Regional Exhibition . (Some of you may recall that this painting also won Best of Show this March in the Raymar Fine Art Competition.)

I love that these paintings got accepted - and - both of them were declined from the first shows I entered them in. When a painting is rejected, I do my best to take an even harder critical look at it, and if it still feels like one of my better works, I send it back out there for another lap in front of the judges.  If you know in your heart your piece has merit, it's worth trying a few shows before retiring it from the competition circuit, while working in the background to create paintings that soar even higher!

Top 5 Reasons You Won't Get into Juried Shows

"Early Evening - the Bow River"
oil on linen - 6 x 8"

Daily Paintworks is currently hosting a "Help the Children of Africa" Challenge where several artists have posted paintings for sale by auction and agreed to donate all proceeds to this very worthy cause. The painting above is included in the auction, and whatever $ it raises will be matched dollar for dollar by the Canadian government. Yay! Head on over and check out the auctions!

On with the post:

The 5 reasons listed below are not the only ones, but they're among the most common. None of them are a reason to stop entering, and only one has to do with quality. Let's start there:

1) Your work isn't good enough (yet)
Painting is easy. Painting well is not. It requires years of dedicated practice to execute work that is strong on every level. Keep working.

2) The jurors don't like it (not the same as #1)
When I jury for a show, I find there are times when I am inclined to overlook technical shortcomings if the piece has strong emotional impact. I have worked with jurors who feel the exact opposite. And there are as many different ideas about what each of these things are as there are humans on the planet. Add to that maybe the juror was stalked by a psycho ballerina and is no way ever going to let a ballet inspired piece into a show. (Could happen.) Jurying is subjective. No way it can't be. Keep working.

3) Your style isn't the right fit for the show
Abstract work doesn't fit in a traditional show and vice versa. Good to view past years of the show you want to enter and ensure your work is a fit.

4) The field of submissions is large and good
Take the Oil Painters of America National Show. They regularly receive over 2500 entries from some of the top painters in North America, and usually accept about 250 pieces. In the 90% of declined entries, there simply have to be some outstanding paintings. What does that mean if your work gets declined? You're in some very good company. Keep working.

5) They've already filled the quota for your genre
Ok this one is speculation - but If your piece is so drop dead gorgeous that it stops everyone in their tracks, it's irrelevant anyway. Go do that!

Now that we've jumped in - stay tuned for my next post - "The #1 Reason to Enter Juried Shows".

Surefire route to solid design

6x8" value study of a Maine shoreline

Just returned home from teaching a workshop in South Freeport, Maine. This demo was done to emphasize the value of values. :-)

Rule#1: Simplify, simplify, simplify. This is all about finding the large abstract shapes. If you take color out of the equation, it gets you looking at things in a whole new way.

When you're done your value study, stand back and ask yourself where you could link things together to strengthen your design. We need to remind ourselves again and again that we are not painting rocks, trees, water, sky. We are painting shape, value and color. And striving to employ a gorgeous variety of hard and soft edges to create depth, integration, texture and mystery.

Click for more tips on the whys of exploring your subject in this way.

The umbrella brigade hard at work. As offices go... I think we might be winning!

One of my students said she had an 8 hour car trip ahead of her and was looking for a way to work on her art while on the road.

There are a couple of games I often play when on long road trips. One is to squint down as I watch the passing landscape and compare the relative value of things. Use the number scale of 1 to 10, and really work on your ability to determine exactly what # one value is relative to another:

• shadow on foreground bushes relative to shadow on background hills
• blue sky relative to clouds.
• what about the clouds? - sunny side to shadow side, verrrrrry subtle, half a value? Stormy? 3 values?

This will really fine tune your ability to assess value.

The other game is the "how would I mix that color?" game. As the landscape rolls by, ask yourself - what tubed colors would I use to mix the:

• late evening sunlit hills
• sunkissed mountains
• what about the shadow sides? how would you neutralize the color?
• morning sunrise filling the sky
• is it one color at the horizon and another higher up?
• what about the pavement? Exactly what would you use to nail that gray?

It's endless, and endlessly fascinating. You could even have a tiny palette in your lap and try to mix the colors you're seeing right there in the car (works better if you're not driving - steering wheel gets in the way.) If you decide to try this, I'd love to hear how it goes for you!

A huge thanks goes out to Bobbi Heath for inviting me out to Maine and organizing the workshop, including filling it with 12 AMAZING students! We had a fabulous 3 days together. You rock Bobbi!

Something New and A Little Magic

"A Twist on Tulips"
Original Oil - 6"x8"

You thought I forgot about 50 Flowers in 100 Hours, didn't you? Not so! Just been sidetracked lately.

All proceeds from the sale of this painting will go to relief efforts for the current famine crisis in East Africa. In addition, the donated amount will be matched equally by the Canadian government. In other words - you get a painting and you'll be doin' a whole lotta good!

Something New
I'd like to step outside of the art forum for a moment and share some other news with you. This is my art blog, and I assure you it will remain dedicated to art related posts in the future, but I wanted to let you know about something else I've been up to.

In addition to taking and teaching a lot of workshops in the last year - I have also been pursuing something I'm as passionate about as I am painting - working toward certification as a life coach. It's something I've put off for years, thinking I already had a fantastic career, but the call just kept getting louder and I finally decided to go for it.
 
The journey from there to here has been enormously powerful and enlightening. I have learned so much about how we get in our own way, and how empowering it is to get really clear about our choices. I've been working with my own amazing coach for some time now, and we've been making some pretty big strides together.

What Is It?
If I were to sum it up, I would say that a great coaching relationship supports you in getting connected with your biggest, most fabulous vision for yourself, and then helps you go out there and get it! (Wimping out not an option.)

If you're curious to find out a bit more about what I'm doing as a coach, and the wonderful benefits of working with one, please check out my coaching website. I've also just started a coaching blog. It will be filled with all kinds of lift your spirit, conquer those naysayer voices kind of inspiration, so if that interests you, please drop on over and have a look.

And Now a Little Magic
This crossed my path a few days ago and I thought you would love it -  a most amazing time lapse video of night turning to day in a very special place in the world. Click on the little white icon on the bottom (to the right of the blue HD) to watch it full screen.

Plein Air Tip and a Big Fat Challenge

"The Sunshine Coast"
Original oil - 6"x8"

What trips you up the most in plein air painting? It's a good thing to ponder. Once you have an answer, there is huge value in focusing on that particular thing the next few times you go out.

For me it's detail and design. Seeing past all the detail - and the challenge of finding a good design. Here is one exercise that will really help you address both of these issues at once:

Do a quick (15 minute) value study of the scene - in paint - using only black, white and one or two mid-tone grays.

Photo of scene

6x8" value study

Remember the goal is not to copy the scene. It's to create a strong design. As you go -  squint and compare, and be exploring:

• how to eliminate detail
• where to link shapes to create an interesting pattern of light and dark
• where you can lose edges by bringing values close together (to connect shapes)
• where to push values lighter or darker to strengthen your design
• what stays - what goes

Lots of folks do value studies with pencil in a sketch pad. I prefer to do them in paint as it gets me thinking about edges and brushwork at the same time that I'm sorting out simplification and design. This was a workshop demo so there is no finished painting to show, but you get the idea.

Big Fat Challenge:

A few of my students have taken on a challenge to do 50 of these studies in the next 30 days. If any of you want to do the same, jump on in. Once you've done 50, send me a photo of your best one, and a photo of the scene it was done from, and I'll post a selection of them here on my blog later in the fall. Bonus - you have until September 30th to get me your image. :-)

On another note, I am only teaching one Daily Painting workshop this year. It will be in my Canmore studio Oct. 1st-3rd. For more details please click here.

Sunshine Coast plein air workshop

"Gibsons Landing"
Original oil 6x8"
Click here to bid

Robert Genn and I taught a plein air workshop on the Sunshine Coast last week. I taught 4 days and Robert parachuted in for a couple of demos and some wonderful sharing of wisdom mid-week.

Robert doing a demo for the group

I have watched Robert paint several times in the past, but this time I was particularly struck by what an intuitive painter he is. He spends a few moments resting in his custom designed painting rig (has to be seen live and in person to be fully appreciated), and then he begins his process of shape making on the canvas, pulling ideas from all that is in front of him, rather than a particular, specific scene. His strength as a plein air painter seems to me to be in his wonderful ability to bring his imagination to the game. He adds so much of himself to the scene, a bright red spot here, a gorgeous gradation there, an expert balancing of elements that leads to a compelling and captivating design. "Commit and correct" is his mantra, it's all about finding out.

Robert's demo in progress (acrylic on canvas)

This is a demo before the important next steps of glazing and refining, but you can see the strength of design and interesting elements that are already present, ready to be pulled together in the final stages. Sorry I didn't take a finished photo, so this is all you'll see unless you track the finished piece down online.

Next post I will talk about a couple of the exercises I worked on with the students that really seemed to support huge progress by all of them through the course of the week.

Burdick/Lyon workshop - Part 3

"Doulton"
Oil on linen - 11x14"

This will be the final post on Scott and Sue's workshop.

This portrait of Doulton (Sue's Spanish teacher) was from the afternoon of the 10th day, when things finally began to click in and integrate. Had some help from Scott on this one, and I loved painting it. Doulton posed for us twice, and there was something so wonderful about his energy - he had a big, easy smile and a warmth in his presence that was immensely captivating. It was super rewarding to bring all the learning into capturing the essence of this wonderful model.

Scott and Sue's morning demo of Doulton

"Begin in a slow, steady, meditative mindset" - Scott
"Don't work out of stress - work out of thoughtfulness." - Sue

We saw this demonstrated again and again - a slow, deliberate approach by each of them. And at least once every hour, Scott would spontaneously announce, somewhere between a question and a declaration, "Isn't this fun?!" - I was never quite sure if he meant it or if he was trying to convince himself - but it definitely seemed to keep him in the zone and connected with his process.

So here are some key pointers:

5 Darks of the Face: (when lit from above)

• eye sockets
• base of nose
• top lip
• beneath lower lip
• under chin

Initial block-in:

• Immediately establish the correct angle of the eyes, nose, mouth
• Initially draw changes in angles, point to point - round things off later
• Don't move off of one point until you're sure it's accurate (get eye correct before moving to nose, look for the smallest jumps possible, nose correct before moving to mouth)
• Think only of shadow and light at first, the largest division of lights and darks
• Squint and lose halftones to create the drama of light, otherwise you will over-model the lights and not make the shadows dark enough - everything will come too close to the middle
• It's easy to make the halftones too dark, remember they belong to the light
• Color isn't critical at this stage - value and temperature relationships are what's important
• Open eyes to see color - squint down to see value
  

Once the block in is complete, begin refining shapes and edges, using halftones to turn form.

When you've got a lot done and are trying to decide what's next - ask:

• Where is my lightest light?
• Where is my darkest dark?
• Where is my hardest edge?

Put these in and diminish everything else.

"I am not concerned with getting a likeness. My focus is on getting the drawing, shapes, values and colors correct - and trusting that this will result in a likeness." - Scott

You can see that almost all of these pointers are universal - your work will grow if you apply them to whatever subject matter you're painting. It's impossible to try and share in a few short blog posts all the learning that happened in a 10 day intensive workshop, but I hope these few things have been helpful, and inspired you to put these two wonderful teachers on your list of important ones to study with.

Burdick/Lyon workshop - Part 2

Susan and Scott demo-ing quick sketch in tandem.

I have been home from the workshop for a week now, and as I am processing all the learning, my strongest feeling is what a truly great honor and privilege it was to study with these two incredibly gifted artists and teachers.

What I would like to share today is the biggest thing they impressed upon us every day of the workshop:

Confident, well honed drawing skills are essential for a painter to become masterful. Top level painting requires constant, careful attention to keeping these skills sharp, and drawing from life, because it is so much more difficult than working from photos, is the best way to achieve this end.

Scott Burdick - 45  minute figure demo

In the first few days I really couldn't believe how slooooooowly and carefully they had us drawing, insisting we were measuring, checking, rechecking - not moving from one point to another until we were sure where we were leaving was accurate. It felt truly painful to hold my attention for this long as all the old familiar voices that have kept me from focusing this intently on drawing in the past rose up: "It's close enough, my measuring tool is out of focus, it's too hard to see it accurately anyway, I can't find a measurement that matches, even when I measure it doesn't come out right (read: even when i measure incorrectly ...), this is way too hard, does it really matter? I'll fix it later..." and they just kept circling the room, reminding us again and again that "Artistic license comes after the careful, accurate drawing is mastered."

So I believed in them and stuck with it, and somewhere around day 4 or 5 it began to click into place. My drawings actually started to look like what I was drawing - well proportioned, everything fitting on the page exactly where I intended it, a little like magic. Timed perfectly to move us into painting, where we spent the next 5 days really experiencing how inextricably intertwined these two aspects of creating art are. More next post, for now I'll leave you with the workshop mantras:

Squint and compare. Slow down. Work carefully.
Squint and compare. Slow down. Work carefully.
Squint and compare. Slow down. Work carefully....

Susan Lyon - 45 minute figure demo