Time to Shake Things Up

Trying to change the way you paint is no easy feat. I always wondered why artists taught workshops and created DVDs (other than the money and the sharing part). Weren’t they worried about creating a bunch of other artist who all paint exactly like them? Why were they giving away all their secrets?

But as I took workshops and watched DVDs I realized I was still using my hand to create the brushstrokes, I still had my own color sense, I still had my own vision of what I wanted to create. In other words, I still paint the way I paint. Not that I didn’t learn anything. I always learn something. It just gets filtered through my own sensibilities. I learn something every time I just paint next to another artist, so hopefully I am getting better.

In order to make a larger leap I have signed up to take a 6-week eCourse with an artist whose art and techniques I admire, Dreama Tolle Perry (http://dreamatolleperry.com). A completely different (bright and colorful) color palette than I am used to, and quite loose brushwork—which I have been trying to implement on my own for about a year and a half with only limited success.

It should be fun. A perfect occupation for the gray and snowy winter ahead of me here in Michigan.

Even painting with my right hand (I’m left handed) did not loosen up my brushstroke enough. I am NOT going to try painting with my feet (as some have suggested)! A larger brush will help.