Painting III

We are almost there!

I hope you enjoyed the process so far. We are getting close to finishing our painting.

Here we are finishing to lay down our base coat and add a second layer on top of the base coat.


YOUR TURN

Take a picture of your work in progress! You are doing great.
Share yours in the Facebook Group.



Encountered challenges?

Don't be too harsh with yourself if it didn't turn out like you wanted. Keep in mind that after an area dried you can paint over it, in case you have made a mistake. This is something that is much harder with water colours.

Tips for painting fur, following references and overcoming creative blocks

You might have chosen an animal that doesn't have fur, however the same tips can translate to whichever animal you picked to paint. The important thing with fur (or scales etc.) is to pay attention to the direction they follow and their length, colour and shape.

Observation - getting to know what you paint

Here I would refer you back to our lesson about "Sketching" where I have explained what are important points to note. Just to quickly repeat what I have said before: If you don't know your animal well enough, it is very important to study it very well. By observing the details you will be able to create a cute but authentic portrait. In fact, the more you know your studied object, the more freedom you will have in sketching and painting it.

Painting is emotional

You don't need to follow your reference completely but use it as a guideline. It will help you to define shapes and lines. If something looks off it is a good idea to go back to your reference. If it still doesn't work out, again have a look at what I said about sketching and frustration (see lecture "Sketching"). The same applies to painting.

Take a deep breath, give yourself some distance and time. Then give yourself some credit for what works and think about what can be practised.


What you really do by creating something is giving of yourself.


Painting can become really emotional. You might roll your eyes now, "Yeah, of course". But believe me, what you really do by creating something is giving of yourself. How can it get any more personal than this?

A little story

I'm by nature a quite curious individual. Over the years I have participated and explored many different creative techniques and workshops. One of them was a Sumi-e (japanese ink painting/drawing) workshop by an Ikebana master (Ikebana is the art of flower arrangements). For those of you who don't know, I have a half-japanese husband but even long before I met him, I was always very drawn to the Japanese Arts. I feel they can teach us a lot about mindfulness.

So back to the painting workshop. I don't remember so much of this workshop but one little thing the lady said completely blew my mind and concept about painting and creating which I never forgot:

In Sumi-e you don't correct a line. You take it as it goes. Why? It is a reflection of your current state.


Your creations are a reflection of your current state.


Basically if you feel frustrated inside, your picture will reflect this. Think about it. Maybe you are not really in the present moment. Maybe you judge yourself. You are so much more capable than you think. You are able to learn and develop and nothing can stop you - but yourself.

It's okay to be Meh sometimes

If the next time you paint, draw or do anything creative that leaves a mark - try to confront yourself a little - listen to how you actually feel inside and not how you want yourself to believe you feel like. It's okay. Sometimes we feel meh. Sometimes our paintings look meh. That's alright.

Painting is relaxing

If you keep on going, more and more you will be drawn into the process. It will help you relax and it can be like meditation. You will focus only on what you are doing right now. Painting after a stressful day - one day you will say, heck yes instead of heck no.

If you made it through this little story and feel you can connect, please drop me a line at [email protected]. I'm glad to hear from you.

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