Friday, May 24

Paint Out of Your Comfort Zone

Rose and Bowl
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
9 x 12 in/23 x 30.5 cm
Copyright 2013
Whatever your comfort zone is, it's time to paint out of it.

That is, I'm pretty sure it's time to give your predictable painting repertoire a break, not only for your sake but also for those who like to view and collect your paintings.

Take your creative neurons on a thrill ride and paint whatever it is that you never, or almost never, ever paint.

If you paint seascapes, paint a flower or a bouquet.

If you paint portraits, paint a landscape.

If you paint city streets, paint an animal or a herd.

That goes for painting abstract versus representational and vice versa, too.

You get the picture.

It's one thing to paint the same thing(s) over and over until you achieve near perfection and call yourself a master or past master.

It's quite another to keep painting the same thing until your creative juices for painting anything else dry up and blow away. Don't let that happen. Do what I did.

I rarely paint still lifes. Ever. But I did this week. In fact, I painted two of them, one of which is today's image. I'm glad I did. I needed a break from my landscapes that I have been painting for months and months in both watercolor and acrylic.

It's refreshing and some of those skills that have been hibernating inside you will be glad you gave them a stretch.


No comments:

Post a Comment