Layers of Inspiration

We traveled to Palo Duro Canyon last weekend, a place I had often heard of but never visited. The landscapes were easy to appreciate. Not as deep or rocky as the Grand Canyon, but the place was peaceful and welcoming. We stayed in a little rock cabin on the canyon rim and I took 150+ photos.

This sight appealed to me because, among other qualities, the striations in the hill were so beautiful.

Yesterday, I worked with my small class on torn paper collages. This is how mine turned out:

Just one more example of how the beauty in our environment can inspire us to express in art!

Analogous Love..

Well, color always does it for me. The brighter the color, the bigger the charge I get. And if the color combo is unexpected, that's the biggest charge of all. Take a look at these cousins, a claret cup, or hedgehog cactus and its first cousin, a strawberry hedgehog, growing right together. Evidently they like the same kind of soil!

The pink ones are strawberry hedgehog, and the red are claret cup or hedgehog cactus

Here's my first little sketch, just a quickie on a 5X7 piece of paper. I used dark colors to pop out the brights. Although I think the brights are good, I don't like the character the dark lends, so decided to do it again.

"Pink and Red," version 1

And try #2 - I zoomed in and used lighter, sunnier colors. I think this one looks much warmer and more feminine. Adding the sticks was a good idea for the texture. I may want to keep trying...

"Pink and Red," version 2

An unexpected source of inspiration

My mom, Ruth Hanson, passed away yesterday. If someone had asked me initially about any influence she may have had on my art, I might have said, "not much." But some hours have passed and I've thought more about my experiences with her. Mom and I shared some interests: history, culture, literature, and perhaps best of all, birds and flowers. Mom taught me the names of birds, plants and flowers, beginning at an early age. I learned to "look up" anything I saw but didn't know the name of. I learned to observe my environment. And I can't think of a single quality more important for an artist.

This one's for you, Mom: "Prickly Beauty."

Steps to Creating from a Photo

Very often, an inspiring sight or idea presents itself when we are far from the studio. We may not even be thinking “painting” when the gorgeous, jaw-dropping sight appears. Our only option might be taking a quickie with the cell phone camera. Probably, any photo we get won’t be studio quality, won’t be composed well, wouldn’t make a great painting just by copying it. So what do we do, when we finally return to the studio and have only that not-so-great digital photo for reference?

The double rainbow that appeared over the Organ Mountains last night was mind-blowing.

But the photo I took with the cell phone is only a reminder of the moment. It couldn't record

the ozone smell in the air, the glowing colors in the rainbow, the gasps I heard from other 

rainbow watchers! There are elements I probably wouldn't want in a painting (like the light pole)

and I wouldn't want to copy the scene directly from the photo - I'll have to think about

what would make a strong composition and how to communicate the excitement I felt at the scene.

• The first thing to do is to look at the photo or photos taken, review them, take yourself back to the moment you touched the photo icon. Remember the surprise, the wonder, the smells, the colors, everything you can dredge up about that moment. What was it about the scene that grabbed you? What made you gasp? Why were you compelled to take a photo? Talk to yourself about the moment. Write down some words, if that helps you solidify your ideas. Mostly, identify what about that scene made you want to paint it? The more you can put this into words, the more you review your emotions, the better you’ll be able to describe it with paint.
•  Second step: Review your photo(s) again for information that supports and describes your exciting idea. What needs to remain? What are the elements that made you gasp?
•  Three: What should be cropped out or discarded? Some things may be obvious: light poles, stop signs, pickup trucks – some of these might be better left out of a landscape painting. It’s all up to you, there is no right or wrong. Only what supports your idea and what does not. You have to put thought into this.
•  Four: How can you arrange those necessary items from step two to make a strong composition? Here’s where the sketch book comes in. You don’t have to get tight and “realistic” with the sketch. I’ve been known to do my sketches with a ball point pen on a napkin or the back side of an envelope. The idea is to get your concept in front of you, move the items around so that they make a strong composition, based on what you’ve learned about composition. Indicate only the main shapes and values.
•  Five: Try out your idea with paint, experimenting with colors and values. Don’t worry yet about details. If you need to make half a dozen little color and value studies, that’s fine. You’ll figure out what works.
•  Six: If you are a “tight” painter, do your drawing and transfer it to the paper. If you’re a looser painter, dive right in. Having done the five steps above, you’ll be much better prepared to get your exciting idea on paper in a way you will be proud to share.

Imbibing Color, Texture and Surface!

Yesterday I decided to try painting on Aquabord again, and I think I'm completely SOLD on it now. My first intro was in a Robin L. Makowski workshop last year, where we painted quite realistically. Below is one of the pieces I did in that workshop - "Love of My Life," a portrait of our Nicodemus, who passed away in 2013.

Love of My Life

While I enjoyed the subject very much, I'm not too interested in the tight, realistic style. So when I decided to paint claret cup cactus on a piece of Aquabord yesterday, I thought I'd try a looser style that is more similar to how I generally paint.

Claret Cup

So in this case, not only the vibrant color of the claret cup (also known as hedgehog) cactus blossoms and the prickly texture of spines and other sticker-y stuff engaged me. I also was inspired to try a different painting surface. I think I like it and will be doing more on Aquabord.

More Desert Beauties

It's April, it's spring and I'm being inspired by the gorgeous spring beauties around me. One of the biggest surprises here when I first saw it was the desert willow flower. Chilopsis linearis to be exact, a member of the catalpa family! Desert willows come in several varieties, some "wilder," some benefiting from a little domestication. This particular one came up voluntarily, next to the walk in front of our house. My husband thought it was too close, so I tried to move it. Of course that didn't work, but surprise! It came up again the next spring, same place. We decided to leave it, and it grew into the most gorgeous little tree that shaded the walk.  Last year, I took photos of the flowers that remind me of little orchids:

chilopsis linearis

Then last week, when I was looking for flower pix to paint from, I was stopped by this one.

Here's the quickie painting I did:

Desert Willow

Joy in the Morning

There's something -- actually, a lot of somethings -- about morning that just makes me smile. Sitting on the patio with my green tea, listening to the sights and sounds, being awed and entertained by all creation around me, I can't keep from smiling to myself. This morning, I had to run for the camera, thinking how inspiration for paintings was all around.

steel raven sculpture, yucca in bloom and acrobatic grackle (on street light)

The simplest things can make me smile when I am in that so-grateful-to-be-alive mode. If one looks at the details in his environment, inspiration just follows.

baby tomato plant, enjoying the morning sun
(it was a volunteer!)

white winged dove, warming himself in the sun
(look at those toes!)

Inspired...but Still Struggling with "How"

Remember this sketch from a ways back?

A line of doves, jostling for position on the rock wall behind our house, made me laugh. They looked like a bunch of western dancers with red feet! I did a real quickie sketch with a ball point pen on the back of an envelope!

Earlier this week I came across the sketch and wondered what I could do with it. The little watercolor sketch on drawing paper, below, was my first stab.

This one seems funnier, with the three light colored doves in a line and a darker dove showing off in front of them. But I'm not convinced yet it's the right approach. Any suggestions from my blog followers would be welcome!

I still feel inspired by the original idea. This is just proof that inspiration alone isn't enough. We need the tools to express our emotional responses. Composition, technique, color theory...those are the artist's tools of expression.

A Fine Day for Flying

Where does inspiration come from? I think we've pretty much established that it comes from emotion. So how did these two "buzzards" engender emotion and spark a painting? I took a photo of two turkey vultures sitting near a dumpster outside a restaurant in Terlingua, Texas. Although we were looking for a place to eat breakfast, I swore I couldn't eat THERE. Bill and I collapsed into giggles. From there, the picture of the "buzzards" became funny. Six years later, I decided to paint them - with a twist. I thought it would be funny to have one "buzzard" looking at the viewer. I changed their postures and body proportions a bit to make them funnier. Judge for yourself.

"Carl and Dewey"

Chromotherapy!

"Chromotherapy" is a type of light therapy that hasn't (yet?) been accepted as a science. Proponents say that chromotherapy can balance energies in the body and therefore cure disease. I remember reading about it in a Robert Heinlein book more than 50 years ago...it was fascinating then and I was intrigued. It's still fascinating - the idea of chakras, or energy centers along the spine, makes sense to me today and I am still tickled, charged up, shaken by color in my environment.

Pink and red are notorious shaker-uppers. When the pink prickly pear and claret cup cactus in my yard bloomed at the same time, I was thrilled! Had to paint it!

Pink and Red...

The painting isn't finished - there are problems remaining that need to be resolved (prickly pear pads that look as though they are soft and fluffy, flowers that are blobs instead of blooms, etc.), but just looking at those pinks and reds next to each other transports me right back to the morning I sat in the dirt and painted this with a giant brush, inhaling the desert air and the bird song around me. How's THAT for inspiration?

More Scribbling...

The second in what I hope will be a series of wild pots, here's "Scribbly Pots 2," just finished. I'm still feeling inspired by the wonderful tempera/ink technique learned in a workshop last month. Although I must admit I'm doing it my own way, not using it quite as it was taught. But I think that would be fine with the teachers, both very imaginative and expressive artists who believe in thinking outside the box.

Scribbly Pots 2

This work started with a poured background, using brilliant colors: quinacridone rose, nickel azo yellow and manganese blue. After drying completely, I used templates to decide where the pots should be, then drew around them. Next, I brushed on white tempera to protect certain areas, scribbled into the wet tempera with the handle of a brush, allowed the tempera to dry, then dribbled and brushed on sepia acrylic ink. When that was dry, the whole thing was scrubbed with a toothbrush in cool water. I stapled the wet paper to a board and allowed to dry, then began to paint back in with the same brilliant colors, pushing and pulling the pots into different positions. Last, with a tiny brush, I added the "sun" in the background with watercolor.

I'm still enjoying the technique, feeling inspired by the challenge.

Trying to Get Inspired

It's that time again. Time to enter competitions, membership shows, and worst of all, themed shows. Although I don't really dislike themed shows, I know a lot of artists who just HATE to have to paint to a theme. It seems that, rather than being inspirational, show themes are so often more like the piano lid slamming shut on the hands.

"Here's Looking at You, Kid!"



"Here's Looking at You, Kid!" was my first response to a themed show featuring wildlife of the Chihuahuan Desert where I live. An ornate box turtle, or western box turtle, appeared on our patio one day. I was stunned by its RED eyes, had to go "look it up" and enjoyed reading about how only BOY box turtles have red eyes. What fun! I knew right away he would be the subject of my entry into that show. I sketched his mug shot on top of a deeply textured background that I had done earlier, using gauze and liquid watercolors. Of course, the red eyes had to be prominent, so that's why only the head. I painted "negatively" around the shape with dark colors, then added details like the shell border, wrinkles, a beak and RED EYES!

There's no secret here, it's the same thing we've revealed repeatedly in this blog:  paint what you are excited about. Find out what turns you on and paint it. How do you find out what turns you on? Go walking in your world. For me, it's mostly outdoors, wildlife, flowers and landscape. For you, it might be something entirely different. But you can't find out until you go looking.

I think painting to a theme actually has more to do with figuring out how what you love to paint fits into the theme. That's kind of backwards and inside-out thinking, but it works!

More Challenges...

Still working with this new technique, using white tempera to mask some areas, then drizzling and dripping black acrylic ink, some of which is washed away before continuing with the painting.

"Scribbly Pots"
 

The challenge, I thought, was to take fullest advantage of the gorgeous riot of brilliant colors and the black scribbles left behind from the ink. I chose two simple pots and worked at making it more interesting by letting you see through the front one. Don't know if it's finished yet...

Best Friends

Cats have always been my best friends. I find them to be God's most beautiful creations. If they choose to love you, you have been blessed. Lots of emotion for me there, so there's lots of inspiration.

Here's Bobbie (actually Robert Harley). He's a funny little guy, walking along talking to himself. He never met a stranger, is sweet and loving and amusing.

"Bobbie"

The painting was created by painting random transparent colors on a quarter sheet, then brushing on white tempera, drying, and drizzling on black acrylic ink. After the ink was dry, I washed the sheet in the bathtub, brushing away most of the tempera and much of the ink. The cat was painted with alizarin crimson+indanthrone blue+quin burnt orange. (I don't own any black paint!)

Inspired by a Challenge?

Recently someone mentioned this abstract landscape I did on a full sheet at a Sterling Edwards workshop last summer. While it may not have been a total failure, it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted. I photo'd the piece and gave it away. Now I'm thinking about giving it another try.



"Canyon Homes"

I still feel challenged to try to get it right. I think I can do better. Sometimes the challenge remains after a painting is finished, perhaps because it didn't say quite what we wanted it to say. Maybe that's why Monet kept painting haystacks and water lilies...

Reaching Beyond What is Evident or Comfortable for Inspiration

For the past couple of weeks, I've been working with the tempera/ink over "lost" paintings technique that was taught in an excellent local workshop. While I have found the exercise to be compelling and productive, not all of my students have found it easy. I have seen their struggles to understand not only "what" to do, but "why," and if they do get those two steps, they still might not know what to do with the result.

That's why I wanted to show you this result, created today by one of my students who has come more recently to painting. Possibly her lesser experience has allowed her to proceed with fewer expectations of what the result "should" be.  I think there's a big lesson here for all of us.

"Enjoying Life" by Barbara L. Dean

Barbara's result is a huge departure from any of the other exercises I saw, either in the workshop or in my studio, with my own paintings or those of other students. "Enjoying Life" probably doesn't follow many of the composition guidelines I teach, but there is no denying that it is original and very expressive. Barbara saw creatures and faces in the colors, shapes, strokes and squiggles and she went with what she felt. Isn't that what all of us, as artists, are hoping for? To find inspiration and to allow ourselves the freedom to follow it......

Teaching New Tricks to Old Dogs

In this case, the old dog was a painting that had no life; colors were too subdued, character was just lost. I wanted to show my students how we might use a technique I learned in a recent workshop to give a "lost" painting new life. Wish I'd taken a photo of the before, you wouldn't believe the difference!

"Prickly Pear No. 342" (I must have painted yellow prickly pear blossoms at least that many times!

The "saving" technique included applying white tempera to areas of the painting, allowing it to dry, then drizzling black acrylic ink on top. After the ink was dry, I took it to the bathtub and, under running water, brushed (with a soft toothbrush) away most of the ink and the tempera. Then, while the painting was still damp, I dropped in more intense colors (my favorites - quin gold and quin rose!) and added more spines. Maybe not a masterpiece, but I think the technique saved something that belonged in the trash. See? You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

Down and Dirty Rules of Composition

Mission at Sunset (incomplete)

I know, this is supposed to be a blog about inspiration and creativity. One of the biggest things I've learned from teaching in the past many years is that you can't really teach someone to be creative. Kind of like being able to lead a horse to water and being frustrated because he won't drink...

What I CAN teach, though, is what to do with the inspiration. Some recent students asked me for a "down and dirty" short course on composition. I came up with these three very simple "rules" for them. Although I firmly believe that all rules were made just to be broken, these guidelines can help the artist have a more successful composition. In order of importance, perhaps...?

1. ALWAYS plan your painting. Do sketches, cut shapes, etc. It's much easier to work out issues before you start to paint than it is to fix misunderstandings later.
2. Plan to place your main idea or center of interest on one of the four intersecting points, using the "rule of thirds" to determine "where."
3. Use "greatest difference" in your focal area -- greatest value change, most intense color, most different texture, most different shape, etc.

That's it. Simple. To keep them in mind while creating, I made an index card with all three points, printed on a bright color, laminated to protect from splatter.