{"id":4888,"date":"2017-01-17T12:12:12","date_gmt":"2017-01-17T20:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/?p=4888"},"modified":"2017-01-28T06:34:42","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T14:34:42","slug":"january-17-2017-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/january-17-2017-whats-next\/","title":{"rendered":"January 17, 2017 – What’s next?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \n \"Fb-Button\"\n <\/a>\n <\/div>
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\""Promise

“Promise – my little rose and Reverence – the one I just finished.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Listen to this post:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170117-Post.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

The last couple of weeks in our regular groups I\u2019ve spent time with several disconcerted artists who were at a bit of a loss about what to paint next.<\/p>\n

There are a few things I notice about what I\u2019ve just written: \u00a0First I see that it is obvious (to us) that there is<\/em> a next \u2013 another on the continuum of paintings which are coming through us. \u00a0To an artist, finishing a painting creates a space that wants for the next one to pour ourselves into. \u00a0Then, I see that the possibilities of what we could paint are literally endless<\/em> – but, not just anything will do. \u00a0There must be a certain something<\/em> that meets us. \u00a0It is actually registered by an instrument at the center of us whose purpose it is to recognize \u201cour work.\u201d \u00a0It knows whether or not this particular arrangement of shapes, colors and contrasts is worthy of spending our time on. \u00a0Lastly, we are happiest when we are working on something that does it<\/em> for us. \u00a0Left wondering whether or not there is<\/em> another \u201csomething\u201d – and our artist-selves are uneasy.<\/p>\n

Art-making is a force that takes us over. \u00a0It has its own ideas and is most satisfied when it is engaged with something that it finds inspiring, challenging or interesting. \u00a0I keep a folder on my Dropbox called \u201ccandidates.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s an always-changing collection of images that my instrument saw as possibilities. \u00a0I peruse this folder when wondering what\u2019s next. \u00a0Sometimes I feel like there are images for paintings waiting in line. \u00a0Where is the time to paint them all? \u00a0But sometimes a scan through this folder leaves me wanting for something else<\/em>. \u00a0Then, it might be time to turn to my larger collection of photos and Photoshop.<\/p>\n

In preparation for a class I\u2019m planning on modifying photos for our paintings using Photoshop, I found dozens of Photoshop files on my computer. \u00a0These files reveal the tracks of my creative play, working to bring out the potential of an image. \u00a0I saw the hours and hours I\u2019ve spent cutting pasting, lightening, saturating, and combining parts of multiple files. \u00a0Digital collaging has become an integral part of my process. \u00a0The traditional art world teaches students to make thumbnail sketches and black and white studies. \u00a0Though I see the value in doing this, I can\u2019t bring myself to when I have the power of Photoshop at my disposal.<\/p>\n

When I promised to paint every day last year, I drew a rose on a 15\u201dx15\u201d piece of paper and painted it using only a tiny palette with a few paints and a printed image (not looking at any electronic device). \u00a0I did this so I could work on it anytime and just about anywhere – alternating with working on my bigger paintings. \u00a0When this rose was done, I missed having a small one to work on, so I started the lavender rhododendron that I just finished last Friday. \u00a0I\u2019m again wanting a \u201clittle\u201d painting, so over the weekend I went on a hunt. \u00a0What follows is what came next.<\/p>\n

I took this photo in the spring of 2015 when a bunch of us went up to the Russian River Rose Company in Healdsburg. \u00a0With all the pictures I took of showy, colorful roses and the way I love color, I\u2019d not guess I\u2019d have this soft, quiet rose call to me, but there it was – that \u201csomething.\u201d \u00a0(The original image is on the left, below) I wanted another square composition, but I\u2019d lose parts I liked if I just cropped around the rose. \u00a0The leaf cluster from the bottom, right corner came up and tucked under the rose. \u00a0And the upper left corner with sky and leaves peeking through, came down. \u00a0You can see these two parts duplicated in the right image:<\/p>\n

\"rr<\/a><\/p>\n

Then it was ready to be cropped (below, left). And me being me, I had<\/em> to bring out the color (right). I saturated the whole image, then I brought out the red (pink) and blue some more:<\/p>\n

\"rr<\/a><\/p>\n

Next I realized that the vertical part of the rose arbor wasn\u2019t actually vertical<\/em> (about a third in from the left). \u00a0It took a bit of work to rotate it and still keep the background parts in I wanted \u2013 I had to back-track to the uncropped version and make just the rose a bit bigger. \u00a0Rotating it also had the rose hanging down more, which I liked. \u00a0The result is below, left. \u00a0Finally, I wanted to bring out some of the detail in the darks. \u00a0Especially since I am going to paint this from a printed image \u2013 darks are always darker in a printed photo. \u00a0The final image is below, right.<\/p>\n

\"rr<\/a><\/p>\n

I am so very grateful to Steve Kimball and the time I worked for him at Light Rain. \u00a0Not only did he pass along to me the valuable knowledge of how artwork is reproduced, but he taught me how to edit photos in Photoshop \u2013 which I now could not do without. \u00a0When I first started painting I collaged images for my paintings the old fashioned way – with printed photos, scissors and tape! I go to Photoshop regularly, not only in my own work, but I often make simple changes to the images for artists in my groups. Hence, the upcoming class \u2013 we all want to be self-sufficient in our creativity.<\/p>\n

Two recent examples of changes made under the art direction of two artists who had been at a loss as to \u201cwhat\u2019s next\u201d (original photos on the left):<\/p>\n

\"\u201cPaulette<\/a>

\u201cPaulette had a rectangular piece of paper she wanted to use. But, she wanted to include the smaller flower, so we moved it down and tucked it behind the main flower. She also had me shift the color of the light green leaves on the left to make them more blue – then a final crop.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\""Sondra<\/a>

“Sondra took this in a market in Paris on our Pilgrimage in 2015. She had me bring the flowers closer together in the middle and shift the color of the petals in the background, upper left towards pink, creating a bit more contrast. Cropping in close, leaving a few darks around the edges finished it.”<\/p><\/div>\n

We carry around in our psyches ideas that using technology in this way is somehow \u201ccheating.\u201d \u00a0But the way I hold it is that we each have a line – our<\/em> limit in the use of technology. \u00a0People now make art entirely with technical tools. \u00a0Using special hardware tablets and styluses and art-making programs with different brush sizes and styles, incredible art is being made \u2013 all in the digital realm. \u00a0Doing this does not really call to me – not seriously. \u00a0I want real paper and real brushes, water and paint.<\/p>\n

When I was working for Steve, he suggested that I could use a filter to identify just the edges of my image and then send my watercolor paper through the printer to print the contours of my image, saving me the time of projecting it and using a pencil to make the drawing. \u00a0I appreciate being offered this idea \u2013 as it pointed out to me my own limit. \u00a0There is an element of \u201ccheating\u201d for me<\/em> if I don\u2019t make the drawing with graphite myself. \u00a0Besides, graphite is erasable, printer ink is not! \u00a0But if this idea appeals to someone else, I say go for it! \u00a0We get to choose what combination of using art materials that have been around for centuries and brand new technology we use.<\/p>\n

There are only three rules that have occurred to me \u2013 at least so far \u2013 in our regular groups. \u00a01 \u2013 Only watercolor paint because it\u2019s relatively low impact and we are in my mom\u2019s carpeted offices, not in an ok-to-get-messy art studio. \u00a02 \u2013 No one can disparage anyone\u2019s artwork, hopefully even their own. \u00a03 \u2013 The music (which is<\/em> necessary) can\u2019t make anyone crazy – you can\u2019t paint if the music makes you nuts! Beyond this, anything goes. \u00a0Really, anything<\/em> – especially when it comes to making art. \u00a0Just because I<\/em> don\u2019t use masking fluid very much or I<\/em> don\u2019t like black paint, neutral tint or Payne\u2019s gray doesn\u2019t mean anyone else can\u2019t use them!<\/p>\n

I found myself saying last week that I see my job as doing anything within my capacity to support those who come to me with a desire to paint, in bringing forth their art. \u00a0This means passing along watercolor skills (of course) and using technology in any way I know how. \u00a0Also not insignificant is to support of their minds, hearts and spirits through the often bumpy inner experience of making art \u2013 especially at the start. \u00a0Eventually we realize that, though it does get easier, it\u2019s always<\/em> going to be hard in some way.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going out on a limb to say that for all of us, landing on something to paint and then applying ourselves to see it through to completion is just about the most rewarding thing we now do with our lives. \u00a0We can trust that our art-making force is<\/em> strong enough to get us through, as long as we give it the time and space – and then get out of its way!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to what\u2019s next!<\/p>\n

Love,<\/p>\n

Cara<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen to this post: The last couple of weeks in our regular groups I\u2019ve spent time with several disconcerted artists who were at a bit of a loss about what to paint next. 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