Practicing brushstrokes and discovering how to use my brushes to make diverse marks reminds me so much of practicing scales and feeling my way to making music. Never mindless work for me, scales were a chance to push myself to do something new every time, to see how creative I could be within the framework of major, minor, chromatic, and blues or jazz scales.
I tried to remember all of the techniques of brushwork Thomas demonstrated last Friday. How to load the brush and pull the paint off of it, watching for the lift and the pressure I put on the brush during the lift. How to push paint around. How to wipe it off with finger or paper towel. How to knock it down with brush or finger or knife. It was great to play and experiment and then wipe it all away when I was done. I hope to feel up to more practice tomorrow.
I was thinking today about how practice always calmed me. I never believed that I had TALENT (with piano or art or anything else, really). But I always believed that with practice I could become competent at whatever interested me. Practice is putting in my time to wrap my mind, my muscles, my soul into the journey of discovery and play that is part of competence.
So it was with piano. And so it is with art.
Now, golf ... that's a different story for another day!
2 comments:
I took a lot of oil painting in college my last two years.I hadn't picked up an oil palette since high school. I remember thinking what is wrong here, I used to do this? I'd forgotten everything I used to know.
Maybe the printmaking was influencing how thing weren't working on canvas. the watercolor classes certainly were influencing thin paint application.
I guess you are right; all your art and music from before are going to affect how you work with this medium and your outcome. Making a lot marks leads to productivity, and hopefully leads to creativity
Abstracts! ("They" say every painting "works" as an abstract)..this looks like it was fun and rewarding. Hope you feel better soon!
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