I'm teaching a student today a private lesson. I'm going to talk about the Rub Out Method in painting. These are a couple of photos of a small study I did for a larger painting.  

          • Start with an underdrawing of varied detail or just draw freehand
          • Pull paint off the canvas with brushes, cloth, q-tips, anything that works
          • Leave paint in areas that you want the darkest values
          • Usually it is done in umbers or siennas

This helps in numerous ways

          • Helps establish values before color
          • Creates an underpainting to "follow" when adding additional paint
          • Without a lot of invested time/supplies a composition can be established and re-worked

Here is another example Oil Painting Studies • I Love You Painting 

These are paintings in progress and aren't finished. I started them a while ago. 

Sometimes I get stuck. It's hard not to judge a painting before it's finished. I shouldn't, but I do.  When something's in the making it's usually not pretty, but it's all you see. (Kinda like kids, but that's another story.) So, I judged, and got very discouraged. I put the bottom one aside and started the top one. I'm 'feeling it' better with this one. 

It's not the models. They are both beautiful! They also happen to be my sisters. 

I think now I've halted because of my paintings skills, or lack thereof. I know some of you are going to go, "oh right, she can't paint, not. I can't draw a stick figure". But from my point of view, I'm still a beginner and don't have everything down, so I hesitate. Paintings are reflective by nature and take time. But, not that reflective. And shouldn't take that much time. 

So, I'm posting - just to get them on my mind again and to maybe see anything or have something come to me.

I'm very excited about the progress of this painting. Except. Except, white takes FOREVER to dry. And I have to wait for it to dry to go on to the next layers. I hate waiting. (Bonus if you know which movie that line comes from.) But, wait I must. And because misery loves company, you have to wait with me. *crickets*

Southwest Art Magazine features Rick Howell's artist's studio 
with a little interview. I love to see other's creative spaces. 

A oil painting study I did this week. It's small but tends to go quickly that way. Eggs for Breakfast Anyone?

Creativity is about thinking. And I've been thinking about creativity, or the lack thereof, for awhile. I decided to take from my notes THINGS WE CAN DO TO DEVELOP CREATIVITY (from an article, The Creativity Crisis by Po Bronson Ashley Merryman) and put ideas into action with Creative Kickstarts. These are things that can be done, if they are done, to help on the road to being more creative, imaginative, and excited about life.

Here's a website, TheyDrawAndCook.com, that I found (and talked about it in this post). So that the adults don't have all the fun, they have a KIDS DRAW AND COOK section. Your kids, and you, can draw a recipe and use their forum to display the work. 

     • Create problem/solution exercises
     • Emphasize idea generation
     • Fact-finding is a stage in the creative process
     • Practice creative activities to recruit the brains' creative networks and gradually change neurological patterns
     • Apply approach as an everyday process of work or school
     • Recognize and nurture creativity

The thing about becoming a creative thinker is that it requires action. Actually doing something. This might be a little uncomfortable at first. Realize you are maybe working new parts of your brain - strengthening your creativity intelligence.

     • Pick a recipe (family, favorite, or funny one?)
     • How would you lay it out so that someone could follow the recipe?
     • What engaging element would you add to get people's attention?
     • Sketch out several ideas
     • Take one refine it, finish it and submit it 

Even if you don't submit to DrawAndCook.com still do this activity, your brain won't take back the process because you didn't submit on their website.

I really love flowers though I don't paint them often. I decided to do a little study and now I want to do a few more.

Here is a series of photos from an oil painting study I did recently for a larger painting I'm doing later .
Painting title: I Love You.

Here's a painting by a Spanish painter Sorolla, Mending the Sail 1896. Though I am sure the photograph does not do the original work justice I love the way the light plays on the canvas sail. The way he managed the cool and warm colors, it is amazing. I would love to master such a skill. (Sorry, I got sidetracked. That wasn't my point today.) My point is what content he painted.

The 2 paintings are scenes of daily life. Images of what they spent most of their time probably doing, work. (And look at that light through and on top of the sail - perfect!) It seems all quite beautiful and idealized to us but it was mundane or necessary for them. Many artists capture their times. It is often said that an artist should catch the moments from his/her own day. So...