Seven Sins of Painting

Oregon Coast
Watercolor on Art Board
Copyright 2013

Today's blog is about overcoming bad habits. I have at least one of these habits now and have had all of them at one time or another. I blog about this to help me remember not to do these things. Or at least to work on not doing them so much. 

Otherwise, I find myself going back to my old habits. What are those habits?

I like to call them the seven sins of painting:

- Over-reliance on photos, which is a crutch for actually seeing

- Not using your artist's license--you do have the right to make any changes you please

- Putting too much detail in the initial sketch or underdrawing, which sets you off on the wrong path

- Not seeing the lights and darks or worse--not painting them as major elements

- Beginning by painting one thing or area in detail rather than first blocking-in the whole thing

- Holding your brush like a pencil and painting tightly all scrunched up

- Finally, over-working or over-painting or whatever you may call it--it's when you don't know when to stop, so you just keep changing and painting and adding details that ultimately ruin your work

The goal I have for my work is to paint freely and boldly so viewers will be drawn into my paintings. If this is your goal, too, then we both need to stop it!