Friday 6 April 2012

It just happens!


Elephant magically appearing in a first mysterious wash!
Painted in minutes for a demonstration to a wonderful group in a workshop.
A run of colour made the trunk appear effortlessly.


To everyone who came on my animal workshop this week thank you for such a terrific day. Goodness your enthusiasm was incredible leading to the grand finale of all finales in a session. One after the other animals appeared on paintings or within washes. When I finally finished unpacking my car this morning I looked at this wash to see the vibrant elephant we all loved when it was first appearing. It was amazing to see colours literally thrown on paper flowing into place to form the body,ear and trunk of the animal with very little effort or help from me.

And maybe this makes a vailuable point. By relaxing, and having fun as we all were at this point with Penny eagerly still waiting to see how I would paint antlers, we actually let go and really create. All the pressures many artists put on their shoulders to  produce a masterpiece each time they pick up a brush can kill all the pleasure in working. I had fun and it showed and  my paintings were light  expressing a sense of happiness and freedom.

So please take all the inspirational ideas away from my workshops, do paint seriously, do paint the exercises and do smile when you are holding a brush from time to time, it DOES help!

And a special congratulations to Lynne for getting into the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year Exhibition. It will be the very first time we have exhibited together and I am thrilled!



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