AEDM Day Nine

So, I realized as I went through my homework videos on SBS (this week's class is with Cathy Johnson) that my pinecone study fits exactly into what Cathy is teaching. Hmmm, serendipity I guess. So the art for Art EveryDay Month is also my homework. Gotta love it when you're already half done something you're then asked to do as homework. Gee, that makes me sound lazy.  ;o)

I am seriously loving the classes I'm doing. I can't believe I can actually say that I'm finding my own style. I mean, I've been working and making art for at least five years and still, until this set of classes, hadn't seen my own personality in my art. That was becoming kinda depressing. Can you imagine the happy dance I'm doing now? Yep, that's me dancing around like a freak.

I've actually had four breakthroughs specifically because I started Sketchbook Skool. The first one happened when Prashant Miranda did some painting and washes using watercolor. Something that had been troubling me just clicked into place. Finally I had an AHA moment with watercolor paint. Up until then I struggled and struggled with it, not knowing what the heck was the problem. I still don't know what happened that day as I watched Prash paint, but he gave me my first well needed breakthrough in painting success.

The second AHA moment happened when I watched Tommy Kane drawing. He is an amazing artist with the patience of Job. The detail in his drawings is extraordinary. Tommy Kane made the comment that he didn't mind mistakes in his art, the one rule he had for himself that he NEVER broke is that he always finished the piece of art, mistakes and all. This freed me. I saw that in fact, Tommy was a kind of perfectionist like me but he channelled it into a work around instead of letting the perfectionism cripple him like I did. I realized that I could still be a perfectionist, I just had to forcefully move it toward always finishing a piece NOT expecting a piece to always be perfect. The perfectionism is in the finishing. This was profound for me. I had tried and tried to manhandle that perfectionism into something I could control but it always controlled me. Now it doesn't. I am free.

Brenda Swenson asked us to do contour drawings using a water-soluble pen and then to paint them up, letting the water move both paint and ink around. I was forced, first to see the shadows accurately and add them in the contour drawing so I could wet them and gradate the color. I was then forced to let the water do what it wanted. When I touched the ink with water, controlling it is kind of impossible all the time. I had to learn to let go of the control and my art has improved by leaps and bounds in just a week.

Roz Stendahl was my final epiphany. I used her site to start to learn about how I wanted to paint and what kinds of supplies I wanted to use to do that. Her blog is a well of knowledge and product testing. I could read what she writes for days and days and still learn something new. Now I know the brands and kind of supplies I want. That's really helpful.

So here's the final page with all three pinecones on them. I love how loose my painting is getting. Gotta love those breakthroughs. I couldn't recommend Sketchbook Skool more highly, it's given me so much in such a little amount of time. Thank you to all my teachers.

(Joining AEDM for Day Nine)

Best,

Jenn

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