Ready, Set, Go

Getting ready to start a new painting. Going to do another "let the colors go where they will" for this one. You can probably see that this is a bunch of padlocks, drawn from a photo, and padlocks don't have to be any particular color. So, in my continuing quest to loosen up a bit, I'm going to relinquish a little control. And that is not easy for me. But Linda Baker's technique is perfect for me. It gives me control if I want it and looseness if I want it. This new painting is 8"x10" and since I am still learning as I go, I make no promises. But it should be fun. I've got my supplies assembled, the design decided on and now I'm ready to go. Yes, I will use more paints than the ones in the photo, but those are just for starters. And I will actually start by masking off some areas that need to stay very light. But I find even the masking off process to be fun. Yeah, I'm strange. You're not the first person to think that. But I took a workshop a few years ago from a polymer clay artist, Dan Cormier, and one of the most important things I learned in his workshop was that you have to enjoy the process as well as the finished product. If you rush through the process, never taking the time to enjoy it, then you might as well go out and buy the finished product rather than do it yourself. The quality of the effort you put into the process directly affects the quality of the finished product. Those were not his exact words, of course, but they convey his message. If I don't enjoy the doing, the actual process of making, then why bother? And he's right. So I have forced myself to slow down and take care with each step of the process. And I am now enjoying the process and the finished projects are much better and my level of satisfaction is much higher. And I'm loving my paintings as a result.

 

Joy Journal: Sleeping late