A portrait-painting professional artist friend likes to sketch in the park to warm up. One day he was sketching some children at play and the drawing was going particularly well. “I was very pleased with how one sketch was going” he said. As he was smiling to himself, one of the mothers came up and watched him for a while.

“You have really captured my child in that drawing” she told him. The artist was pleased that she appreciated his work. “I think it was the best I had ever done” he told me later. He was so proud of the sketch that he took it from his sketchbook, signed it with a flourish and presented it to the young mother.

“Oh, thank you” she told him as she carefully folded the drawing up in a nice neat square and stuffed it into her purse.

It was a painful lesson for the artist to more carefully consider the value of his work. The mother thought the sketch had little value because she had watched the artist seem to create it effortlessly. She did not appreciate the years of hard work and talent that go into making art appear effortless. If she had seen the drawing matted and framed in a gallery setting it would have been perceived with much greater value.

One day Hals Holbein was painting a lady’s portrait for King Henry the Eighth when he was interrupted by a nobleman. The artist rudely shoved the man out the door and the insulted nobleman went to King Henry where he complained of his treatment by the painter. The King replied; “It is I, in the person of Holbein, who have been insulted. I can, when I please, make seven lords of seven plowmen; but I cannot make one Holbein even of seven lords.”

Artists have always faced the problem of interruptions. Telephones, visitors, family obligations and business can invade valuable studio time. Once disrupted, the creative flow is not always easily regained. Like trying to track down a forgotten name, it is also hard to rediscover a lost idea. Innterruptions while painting with watercolors presents technical difficulties and can easily ruin a background wash.

King Henry understood the value of a fine artist and considered that Holbein was entirely within his rights to shove an interrupter out the door. We must protect what creative time we have and gain the support of family and friends to help. I often have a sign on my studio door, ‘Do not Disturb: Artist at Work’. Rudeness is the least that a tresspasser might face if they interrupt me!

Painting on location is a challenge. There are always interruptions and it is easy for me to forget the work at hand and wander off to inspect a new butterfly or have a discussion with a passing visitor. Sitting in the forest with a sketch or painting before me is a delightful way to spend the afternoon but I may not necessarily have much to show for it.

Although most of my watercolors are executed in the studio I think that location painting is an important aspect of the work so I keep trying. The paintings and sketches that I do complete on the scene are never as controlled as the studio work. Outdoors, the watercolors usually dry more quickly than I’m used to and I can’t do the same glazing methods to build color.

I find that when I do not try to produce work similar to that done in the studio the paintings are more sucessful. If I let the experience direct the painting and go for a more spontaneous style, the results are more energetic. It isn’t really time wasted if there is nothing in the portfolio to show for a days outting. The memories and impressions of the experience may be used in later paintings.

The best way to produce a decent painting outdoors is to just enjoy the afternoon and paint without having any particular expectations. When you paint or sketch, the results is a work that expresses the joy of the day, and that is more important. Although I may later produce a more carefully rendered painting from the sketches and studies on location, the work done outdoors will always hold a little more of the day’s raw energy in spite of technical shortcomings.

While you’re thinking about locations, read Shifra Stein’s latest travel article Bayfield, Wisconsin a Lake Superior Gem

When he was in his 20s, Picasso gave a party to honor the aged Henri Rousseau. Artists and poets with their mistresses attended and after the impromptu dinner most of Montmartre trooped into the studio. Speeches and songs were composed for the occasion, poets recited and Rousseau played his violin and sang but dropped off to sleep in his chair. It was a night they all remembered in spite of the crowded studio, the caterers who delivered the food the next day, the tipsy girl who fell into the jam tarts and the lantern that caught fire after dripping wax on Rousseau’s head.

Sometimes the best parties are the least extravagant, the best company is the crowd who drops in at the last minute and the most inspired speeches are improvised. Often online parties are like that, not knowing who or what is coming next is the most fun.

Stop in to one of the ArtCafe’s informal chats:
Mondays 7-8pm ET (6-7pm CT, 5-6pm MT, 4-5pm PT)
Wednesdays 9-10pm ET (8-9pm CT, 7-8pm MT, 6-7pm PT)

Weekday mornings (8:00-8:30 est) there are informal morning socials. Stop by and say hello!

Why do young people, so creative as children, give up art as they grow older? Art is a form of play, the creativity of crayons and paint express the joys of childhood. At about ten years old many young people decide that the products of their creativity no longer satisfies them, it is not ‘good enough’ so they are ‘not artists’. They set the crayons aside and rarely return to visual art to express themselves. Whether it is from peer pressure or a natural process, they have set aside art and lost something of what it means to be human.

We artists who have painted for years often intimidate these beginners. We should strive to help them understand that it is not the results of the effort that is worthwhile, it is the process of creating that is its own reward. Often parents will say ‘my child draws well, perhaps he will be an artist’. Perhaps, but it is the creativity that evolves from artistic pursuits that will be important to any path the young person takes. Creativity is an advantage in life and art is a valuable form of creative play.

It seems as if words often shape our thoughts and communication is a major part of our lives. But words are limited, making it difficult to describe sensations, dreams or memories. As artists, we daydream in images and set form to ideas by drawing or painting. It never seems to be enough to take written notes on a landscape. No amount of words can describe a particular shade of blue or the shadow shapes under distant trees. A sketch often comes closer to capturing that memory of a time or place even than a photograph. Even then we often try to scribble written notes on the side to remind us of something later.

We each develop our own shorthand for capturing a bit of visual information in words. We can compare a sky to a blue topaz or cobalt pigment. Sometimes it helps to have your own terms for a particular effect of color. When I see a clear sky just beginning to blush with evening I call it a ‘porcelain’ sky. It doesn’t matter if the phrase means anything to anyone else, I understand it and can help bring the image to mind with my notes.

Artists are not generally comfortable explaining what they do. It is one of the hardest things to talk and paint at the same time since the different activities use different parts of the brain. Perhaps that is one reason it is not always easy to recall exactly what one did in a particular part of a painting or explain why we made certain choices. We use words to set things in memory. Since the verbal side of our brain is quiet while we are creating images, the memories tend to get muddled or lost.

Communicating about art, even to ones’ self is a challenge but one I believe is worth the effort. I find that, with practice, I can make short written notes on color or shapes that usually make some sense when I reread them. It is an effort to put concise words to an idea but when I do, that idea will return to memory more easily when I need to remember.

Just a note that the hosted Studio chats have returned.

Mondays 7-8pm ET
(6-7pm CT, 5-6pm MT, 4-5pm PT, Midnight GMT, Sidney= Tues 10am)

Wednesdays 9-10pm ET
(8-9pm CT, 7-8pm MT, 6-7pm PT, 2am Thurs GMT, Sidney= Thurs noon)

We meet at ArtChat Simply type in a name, leave the password area BLANK and click enter to join us!

These moderated and hosted chats include discussions on various mediums and techniques, the business side of art, guest speakers and even a little art history now an again. Wednesday nights will sometimes feature our resident GEEKs to help with web page questions and we will also see Gallery Night returning on the first Monday of the month.

We hope you can join us and join in the lively discussion of art and living as an artist at the Studio Chats!

For the last couple weeks we have had some interesting discussions on the ArtBoards. One is on ‘Realism vs Romanticism’ and has been very thought provoking. So often we work in our various studio spaces and if we think about art philosophy at all we don’t often have a chance to discuss our ideas. The ArtBoards have, for the last 10 years, been an important part of my ongoing art education.

There is nothing like having to explain your ideas to really understand them yourself. Painting is such an internal process. I had not thought out my viewpoint on whether or how to paint a fallen bird’s egg or feather since to me it represented the death of a creature. In the discussion I realize that I have a perfect right and even responsibility to show the end of life in nature, even as I celebrate it’s beginnings.

We can share, not only our own paintings on the boards but also our inspirations, sketches and vague ideas. It is with the input of others that we are pushed to explain and develop our ideas and expand our viewpoints. I hope you will join in!