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Why Paint a Series?

February 7, 2022 By Carol McIntyre

Have you ever thought about painting in a series? If not, why not? …And what is it?

A series is a cohesive collection of paintings whereby the viewer has no doubt the same artist has created each piece. A series communicates a common thread that connects the paintings. Every painting can standalone, but together the visual impact is greater.

The series’ common thread can be established in a number of ways, including: technique, color palette, subject, medium, size, etc. This theme or thread is stated and restated in different yet interconnected ways. This facilitates the viewer’s ability to understand more easily what the artist is saying visually.

One of my first series, back in the early 1990’s, incorporated musical instruments and flowers. They were painted in watercolor and each was a full sheet or 22″x30.” Notice the unique edge on each piece and that the flower’s petals are strategically placed as if they are playing the instrument. There were 12 in this series. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Art Material & Painting Tips, Creativity & Painting Concepts, Selling & Buying Art Tagged With: abstract painting fused with realism, art marketing, art tips, artistic process, Painting Process

How Did I Create a Solo Show During COVID?

March 15, 2021 By Carol McIntyre

Back in December 2019, the gallery owner of G44 Gallery, Colorado Springs, surprised me with an invitation to have a solo show in 2021. Not only was I honored and excited, but I also had a strong visceral reaction of “Yes! That will be perfect timing.” Ha! Little did any of us know what the future had in store for us.

How did I begin creating for this upcoming solo show?

At the time of the invitation, I had just begun experimenting with a new medium — cold wax with oil — followed by an excellent cold wax workshop taught by Tish Lacy Reed in January. Subsequently, I dove in with great gusto. At this point – about the Feb/March time frame – I wasn’t thinking about a series or my show, I was dedicated to learning about cold wax with oil. create a solo show

During my 30+ years of painting, I have worked in watercolor, pencil, oil, pastel and acrylics, and in that sequence. During each medium, I focused on just that one medium. In other words, I have never jumped from one to the other and back. Why? Because I wanted to get to know the medium as well as I could and enjoy all of its characteristics. My subject matter also evolved along with these medium changes. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Color Mixing, Tips & Concepts, Inner Artistic Journeys Tagged With: abstract artwork, abstract painting fused with realism, an artist's musings, artistic process, Creative Process

What Are the Four Stages of Learning?

August 4, 2020 By Carol McIntyre

Are there stages of adult learning? Yes there are. Sometimes we resist them or forget they are a part of the learning process.

As a life long learner, it never ceases to amaze me how the four stages of learning repeat themselves. In other words, I can’t skip a step, though I would love to. I am sure you would also, particularly when acquiring a skill, technique or knowledge that seems to take so long.

I refer to them as the four stages of learning. They are also known as the “four stages of competence” and the “four levels of teaching.”

What Are the Four Stages of Learning?

In sequence, they are:

1. Unconscious incompetence

2. Conscious incompetence

3. Conscious competence

4. Unconscious competence

Can you relate to any or all of the above with a recent learning experience?

What is Unconscious incompetence?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Creativity & Painting Concepts, Inner Artistic Journeys Tagged With: artistic process, Creative Process, tips for artists

Letting Go: A Painting Demonstration

April 22, 2020 By Carol McIntyre

How did this painting Destination Unknown,

letting go, abstract painting

become this painting?

letting go, cold wax medium

The simple answer is, “I had to let go.”

Most likely you have heard the statement, “You need to let go,” many times throughout your life. I know I have, particularly from painting instructors. My internal response was always, “…and how do I actually do that?”

No one ever gave a good explanation to the process of letting go – at least to my satisfaction – until I took an abstract painting workshop from Joan Fullerton about three years ago. She  literally made us become unattached to our work. Joan is funny and a great teacher, as well as creates beautiful paintings.

How did I learn about letting go? It took practice and belief.

During the workshop, we would start an abstract painting with gestural mark making, and then we had to turn our canvas 90 degrees. Next, we applied paint using various tools and collage papers. Once again, we had to turn our canvas 90 or 180 degrees. If there was a color combination or shape we really liked, we were to cover it up! There was a lot of groaning from fellow students and a few gasps, as we were stretched artistically. You could feel the resistance in the air.

This process was continued for several more layers until we individually could see a painting to start to develop. From there, we continued working on our paintings until we felt they were complete. Let me add, it took me over a year to become comfortable with turning my paintings and to freely apply paint without over-thinking it.

The feelings of uncertainty have evolved from nerve-wracking to exciting anticipation. Often I am rewarded with delightful outcomes. This happened in the demonstration below.

Letting Go to Learn a New Medium

As you may remember, I have been learning how to use cold wax medium with oil paints. From those who have not worked with cold wax, it can appear to be merely a new technique. However, it is similar to learning a whole new medium. For example, I went through this long learning process when I went from watercolors to oils, oils to pastels and pastels to acrylic.

The tools are different, oil paints are messy (which I had forgotten!), and timing is another factor to take into consideration when working with cold wax. Consequently, many experiments are necessary – and continue to be – to obtain a rhythm and deep understanding of this medium. In order to do this, I have had to become good at letting go!

You should see my studio. (Maybe I will do a video of it.) Every surface is covered with paints, tools, papers, books, good and bad attempts, rags, examples, etc.  I can’t remember the last time it was this messy nor that I spent so many hours in the studio.

Progress is happening, which makes me do a happy dance periodically, yet there is more to learn. Meanwhile, I wanted to share my process with one painting.

In this example, I am experimenting with combining one of my mixed media paintings with cold wax. This meant I would be painting over an existing painting. Hence, I chose letting go of this 20″ x 20″ painting on panel.letting go, cold wax medium, creative processOnce I honored it and acknowledged parts that I liked and some that I did not, I moved to the next step.

As you can see below, I painted black – it is black gesso – over areas of the painting. Embracing my fear of letting go and engaging in the excitement of trying something new, were on my mind. It was invigorating to tackle the unknown, despite thoughts of doubt. By the way in my mental dialogue, I have decided to change the phrase letting go to moving forward.

The areas that I left visible were chosen intuitively.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

Next, I chose and mixed the colors I wanted to apply. They were based on the colors that were peeping out from under the black. Below, are the stripes of colors I applied thickly. This approach is something I came up with. In other words, I had not seen a demonstration or video of what I was doing. It was a risk and I had no idea what the result would be. I dove in with curiosity.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

To blend the paint I used one the squeegees – probably the red one – and began moving paint around. letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

My intuition led the way. However, I was conscious of not creating muddy colors. I added some white here and there as well. After the cold wax paint set for a couple of hours, I then went in with some scraping tools. You can see the lines where the paint from underneath shows through. It felt a bet like a mess, yet I liked the colors.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

Next I turned the painting 90 degrees and I put it on my easel. (My first layers are done on a flat surface.) I couldn’t believe what I saw! A burning candle. It was a sign of hope during this trying time of COVID-19 and made me smile.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

This is the point when I begin to have a conversation with the painting. Now I further develop its content and focus on its composition. More layers were applied in various areas.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

After applying more layers, I took a stop back realize, it looked too much like four separate quadrants. Therefore, I applied more paint and blended colors. Below is the finished 20″ x 20″ piece entitled Cake and Ice Cream.

letting go, cold wax medium, creative process

One unanswerable question, “How is the pandemic influencing my ability to let go?” What do you think?

I believe it is at some level, because we are being asked to change many parts of our lives during this crisis.

FYI, there are several books available about subject of letting go, as well as inspirational quotes. Another book is Comfortable with Uncertainty, as well as this classic The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. How do you deal with letting go and uncertainty?

Please leave your thoughts and comments below.

Gratefully and colorfully yours,

Carol

PS This blog only provides an example of letting go with an abstract painting. It is applicable to any and all styles of painting.

color mixing, cold wax medium, letting go

Filed Under: Creativity & Painting Concepts, Inner Artistic Journeys, Step-by-Step Painting Demos & Commissions Tagged With: abstract artwork, an artist's musings, artistic process, Creative Process, step-by-step painting

Don’t Fret! Learn Where the Creative Process Gets Sticky – Part 2

January 24, 2020 By Carol McIntyre

Do you ever get stuck during your creative process? Or you just want to give up?

You are not alone. Feeling this frustration is  common and to be expected. In fact, Elizabeth Gilbert states in her book “Big Magic: Creative Living Without Fear,” Learning how to endure your disappointment and frustration is part of the job of a creative person…Frustration is not an interruption of your process; frustration is the process. On a personal note, I wish I had known this many years ago when I had first started to paint.

Are there common places in the creative process where creatives often stop and don’t want to continue? When you read my Part 1 of this blog post, I asked if you knew where creatives typically get stuck in the creative process. Any thoughts? It was fascinating to learn from my research that there are two. This was helpful to be aware of, particularly since I learned that I had company.

Per my last post—Part 1—and for review, I outlined the key stages of the creative process as follows:

  1.  First Insight—the original thought or problem to solve;
  2.  Saturation—the gathering of resources;
  3.  Incubation—unconscious and conscious ruminating;
  4.  Illumination—the Ah, hah! moment;
  5.  Verification/Production—the resolution.
  6.  Separation/Letting Go—closure and transferring of ownership.
  7.  Hibernation—the time of rest and restoration after the process is completed. By the way, this important step was not added until the end of the 1900’s.

Note my graphic below to as a visual understanding the steps above. The graphic depicts the creative process as a circle or spiral versus linear, which reflects reality more accurately.

creative process

There are some experts in the field of creativity who believe these phases are not worth noting. However, I believe they are as I mentioned, because knowledge informs us and gives us power. Understanding our experiences better prepares us along the artistic journey. An awareness of the creative process helps us to be prepared and/or not surprised when these stumbling blocks arise.

FYI: An excellent book with a different perspective is “Imagination in Action: Secrets for Unleashing Creative Expression,” by Shaun McNiff. I highly recommend it.

Frequently, artists do not continue in their creative endeavors because the hurdles seem unachievable. There are countless stories of the ‘problem to be solved’ or the ‘painting’ being put on hold indefinitely or permanently terminated. Most of us have heard of artists doing this or we have done so ourselves.

Where Do Creatives Typically Stop During the Creative Process?

I learned that this stoppage occurs most often during two different phases.

The first is during the Incubation-Step 1—period. According to the well-known author Betty Edwards, in her book “Drawing on the Artist Within,” The mind longs for closure while the answer stays out of reach and this is the most critical moment in the creative process. The artist succumbs to the anxiety and gives up for fear the problem may, after all, have no solution, or [they] cannot summon the courage to accept the anxiety, keep the problem before their eyes and in their mind and take the next uncertain step.creative process

According to Edwards, this is when we lose most artists. It takes will and persistence to overcome this anxiety. When I look back at the times when it took me a long time to arrive at my “Ah, ha!” with some of my painting ideas. I often wanted to toss the idea. I believe it was my passion and belief in myself that kept me resolute to continue. I did not succumb to the anxiety and frustration I was feeling.

However, there are times when it does feel like a battle that cannot be overcome.

Edwards states that the second place where artists most frequently do not forge ahead is during the Verification—step 5. Either they cannot quite complete the idea as they see it in their mind’s eye or they do not complete the artwork for fear of external feedback. The fear of the unknown responses from others can be debilitating.creative process

Bringing our artistic results forward for all of the world to see, critique, enjoy, purchase, stare at, and walk by, is not unlike enduring the dreaded act of public speaking—stated by many psychologists as one of the most feared activities people can face. We painters are in a vulnerable state when we present our work and the risk can seem daunting. For some it can be exhilarating. Which one are you?

There can also be the feeling of personal failure because the artist cannot do what he or she set out to do. Sometimes it feels like plowing through thick, gummy mud and it doesn’t seem worth all of the work and stress. Yet, when we get to the other side it can feel very satisfying and motivating. Personally, the more I have painted, the easier it has become to persist through the muck. I also know that each step is getting me closer to what I am trying to accomplish, because I am constantly learning along the way.

As the masterful vulnerability researcher Brene Brown states, “Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think.” She also says that vulnerability is the key to creativity and authenticity.

When going public early in my painting career, I learned I needed to g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y step outside of my safety zone. Overtime I slowly enlarged the circle of people I had the emotional countenance to tolerate. Further confidence decreased my anxiety significantly and my expectations became more realistic. Also fear of confirmation and validation lessened.

There is much more that coule be written about this subject. What are your opinions and experiences? Please leave a comment below.

If you found this article helpful, feel free to share it with other via the buttons below.

Colorfully and gratefully yours,

Carol

creative process

 

Filed Under: Creativity & Painting Concepts, Inner Artistic Journeys Tagged With: artistic process, Creative Process, tips for artists

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