A Fun Game

"If you slightly squint your eyes, you will see 

that at least 2 and possibly 3 values of color 

make up any object in the natural world. 

Practice creating entire paintings with 

no more than 3 values on any object. 

Paint a few of those and you'll discern a rhythm 

between areas of 1, 2 and 3 values. It's a fun game." 

~ Cristina Acosta

Practice Exercises

"Don't be afraid to draw or paint the same thing over and over!"

Learn from a good musician or athlete, because
 "repetition is the key to mastery"!!

~ Sandy Sandy

 See more about how to do these quick ¼ turn gestures here.

Draw, Refine, Repeat

"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, 

it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." 

~ Michelangelo

  One of many sketches I did for last weekend's "Paint Your Pony" Playshop here ... 

"There is always more to be found by exploring the same subject again and again." ~ Dion Archibald

Revisiting Some Friends

"Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things."

 

This reference photo can be found in a July 2011 post. I decided to flip the bird and had another go at it. I had some fun with the color combo too! It was like visiting with an old friend. I vividly remember the countless hours of sitting out among the butterfly bushes with my camera, tripod and  flashes; trying to get that elusive, perfect hummingbird shot. I think I like this little color combination. What do you think?

Love Is All

"Ah, love is old,

love is new.
Love is all,

 love is you." 

~ John Lennon & Paul McCartney

"When you find something you love, feed and nurture that passion. 

Run after it, like it's the last train of the night

and it's already starting to leave the station."

~ Sandy

It Is Happiness To Wonder

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
  ~  Socrates

 

 

 

“The invariable mark of wisdom 

is to see the miraculous in the common.”
  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Magic Things

“The world is full of magic things, 

patiently waiting for 

our senses to grow sharper.”
   ~ W.B. Yeats

 

It was a beautiful day to have lunch out in the yard among the hummingbirds and butterflies.

Relaxing and soaking in all the magic things, with friend and fellow artist, Irvane Spracklin.

Addicted to Art

"A frenzied passion for art 

is a canker that devours everything else." 

~ Charles Baudelaire 

 

"It's the addicts that stay with it. 

They're not necessarily the most talented, 

they're just the ones that just 

can't get it out of their systems." 

~ Harold Brown

Cultivate Patience

Cultivate patience in your heart and you will improve. 

Learn to see well and your hand will become sure." 

~ Charles Philip Brooks 

Today's model

2 minute gesture with watercolor wash

 "Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, 

reassessing and regrouping."

 ~ Julia Cameron

Our Finest Moments

"Believe in your heart that you're meant to 

live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.” 
~  Roy T. Bennett

“Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping... waiting...  

and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir... open its jaws and howl. 

It speaks to us... guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. 

What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments."

 ~  Joss Whedon

Imagination is Limitless

“I believe in intuition and inspiration.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. 

For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination 

embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, 

giving birth to evolution."
~ Albert Einstein

“The world of reality has its limits; 

the world of imagination is boundless.”
   ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Personal Growth Is A Choice

"The strongest principle of growth 

lies in human choice." 

~ George Eliot 

Our model for today's 2 minute,  ¼ turn gestures ...

2 minute,  ¼ turn gestures

Repeat As Needed ... 

"Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better.

 Our subconscious mind does not need the details."

~ Emile Coue

Wild, Free and Spontaneous

"Earth laughs in flowers."  

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"For myself I hold no preferences among flowers, 

so long as they are wild, free and spontaneous."

  ~Edward Abbey

A Forest Wilderness

“The clearest way into the Universe 

is through a forest wilderness.” 
~ John Muir

“In every walk with Nature, 
one receives far more than he seeks.”
  ~  John Muir

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. John Muir
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_muir.html

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. John Muir
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_muir.html

New Inspiration and Vigor

"Travel and change of place 

impart new vigor to the mind." 

~ Seneca

Rocky Mountain High

"Traveling helps you grow because it forces you to take risks. 

The subject matter and atmosphere are different." 

~ Marilyn Simandle

Celebrating Life

"To paint... to travel...  

to combine the two...  

is to celebrate life." 

~ J. R. Brouwer

Alpine Survivor

"One's destination is never a place, 

 but rather a new way of looking at things." 

~ Henry Miller

Paying Attention

"Sketching on a regular basis requires you 

to pay close attention to the visual world 

around you. With practice, you begin to 

see things you never noticed before. 

~ Paul Lasea

3 minute blind contour

You Are Simply Drawing

"As each new skill is learned, you will merge

 it with those previously learned until, 

one day, you are simply drawing; 

just as, one day, you found yourself simply 

driving without thinking about how to do it." 

~ Betty Edwards 

 3 minute Blind Contour

To See More Clearly

"Be clear in your mind why learning to draw well is important. Drawing enables you to see in that special way that artists see, no matter what style you use to express your special insight. Your goal in drawing should be to encounter the reality of experience... to see ever more clearly, ever more deeply."

 ~ Betty Edwards 

Today's three 3 min. blind contours

Three Main Values

"If you slightly squint your eyes, you will see 

that at least 2 and possibly 3 values of color 

make up any object in the natural world. 

Practice creating entire paintings with 

no more than 3 values on any object. 

Paint a few of those and you'll 

discern a rhythm between areas 

of 1, 2 and 3 values. It's a fun game." 

~ Cristina Acosta

Keep It Simple

"Faithfully copying every detail you see doesn't work. 

Too much detail destroys the illusion."

"Simplicity captures and expresses the essence of the subject." ~ Hap Hagood

 "To see things simply is the hardest thing in the world." ~ Charles Hawthorne

The Skill Of Simplicity

"The most complicated skill is to be simple.”
 ~  Dejan Stojanovic

 "Simplicity is creative in and of itself." ~ Michael Duncan

 "I like to have a thing suggested rather than told in full. 

When every detail is given, the mind rests satisfied  and

 the imagination loses the desire to use its own wings." 

 ~ Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Focus On Your Passion

“Whatever your passion is, keep doing it. 

Don't waste time chasing after success or 

comparing yourself to others. Every flower 

blooms at a different pace. Excel at doing 

what your passion is and only focus on 

perfecting it. Eventually people will see what

you are good at doing, and if you are truly

great, success will come chasing after you.”
 ~ Suzy Kassem  

 

 "Out of clutter, find simplicity." ~ Albert Einstein

    

  “Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do),

 skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).”

 ~  Stephen R. Covey

Got To Start Somewhere

“Every artist was first an amateur.”
~  Ralph Waldo Emerson 

    

“Joy is the feeling of one's powers increasing.”
  ~  Matthew B. Crawford

Wake Up Your Senses

"Artists get better by sharpening their skills  or by

acquiring new ones; they get better by learning to work, 

and by learning from their work."

~  David Bayles

"Drawing wakes up the senses and skills, 

and work is sharpened in other mediums." 

~ Timothy Nero