Paint Enthusiastically!

Sandy Beach
Acrylic on Watercolor Paper
12 x 6 in/ 30.5 x 15.2 cm
Copyright Byrne Smith 2016

I added an exclamation point to the headline of today's blog because that's what being enthusiastic should be about for painters--make them exclaim and be excited.

Look at it this way, if you're not enthused by what you're painting, certainly no one else will be either.

How does a painter paint enthusiastically?

I can only tell you how I do it. I aim to put myself right there in the moment of the scene I'm painting. That doesn't mean I actually paint myself into the scene; that is, I don't paint a person who looks like me onto the canvas or paper. No.

But it does mean I mentally imagine myself in the actual ambiance or action or stillness of the moment. I like to think I can look around or walk around in the scene and make observations about light and value and color.

Doing that makes me want to paint to my very best ability, and that's how you paint enthusiastically!