Beautiful Red Poppies
The past few weeks have been spent easing back into the art process with reference photos of poppies. Winter here continues and I am content to be inside, comfortable and warm. Even so, I do feel a bit of cabin fever. The Gurney's seed catalog came this week. In a few months it will be time to start planning the garden. So while winter carries on, I'm focusing on garden beauties. Their petals are as delicate as tissue paper, sunlight defines each bit of crinkle in the petals.Light - dews- breezes - bloom - and freshness; not one of which has yet been perfected on the canvas of any painter in the world. - John Constable
In all my nearly 30 years with art (ouch, that's a while!), there are several things I have avoided doing. Skipping over a step in the planning and executing process is not the best habit to start. In college, I avoided Art History 101. I was able to take several other classes like photography and drawing. Without the Art History, I could not move on to take pottery or painting. Foolish me!
Advice to that college student me: Go for it anyway!
Well, the other thing I've avoided is the thumbnail sketch. It's not a sketch of a thumbnail. It's just a small sketch (think business card size) with the basic composition, shapes and values. I've dreaded it and gotten by all these years without it. But I've wondered how following through and doing it could help me improve my work.
