One Month in the Studio

“Everything you can imagine is real.” —Pablo Picasso

It has been such a wonderful and busy time with the deep dive I’ve been giving my studio practice. To start, I’ve been tracking (as often as possible) my hours and my goals for each day and journaling at the end of the day an overview of what I accomplished and what I plan to accomplish. I find this is a good way to decompress and reflect. It is also super handy for all those times when you look back and say “what the heck did I DO all day??” And it’s like, Oh yeah I fell into a time warp painting again.

So, journaling. Another important part of my practice is to reach out via social media so my followers can track my progress, which I usually post in a Story. Initially, I was engaging in art making challenges that some Instagram handles put out. This was helpful in the beginning to give me a daily goal, but I soon came to realize I needed to work on my process and my voice before I applied my art to any challenge. Thus began my search for MYSELF. Oh, the feels.

It surprisingly didn’t take long to find this. I think I’d been rolling some ideas in my head so long that they were ready to be pearls. I found that working small has some major advantages when working in traditional media, which for me, must be gouache. I love the way it can be applied opaquely, thickly, and easily washes away with water. I can get pulled away from my desk at a moment’s notice and return as if nothing happened- no ruined brushes, no weird abruptness like you get with watercolor if the damn bead of pigment-loaded water dries on you before you’re ready.

So, I like gouache. Poifect! Now, how to make a painting?

These little 7”x7” squares of rag board I snagged from my gallery job (literal discards from the custom frame shop - utter gold) have been my material of choice. I make a drawing on it from a picture that's been banging around in my head, and this part of the process usually flows pretty easily. Although, lately I’ve been also getting into more portrait work and this has to be well researched, which means a longer process involving sketches, lots of tracing paper and line simplifying before it hits final board.

Next, I scan that finished drawing into Photoshop, find a palette that resonates with me, and use that limited palette to make a complete color study. This I print out and then mix my colors to match. From there it’s almost like painting by number and, I tell ya, it is so dang soothing. I just put on a podcast or some instrumental music and go to town. So far, I have been super pleased with the results and I have ideas for days!

Also…

It would be remiss not to mention the class that I’m taking with UMaine Augusta. I am working to fulfill qualifications to get professionally certified to teach in the state of Maine, and my class Teaching Students with Disabilities and Exceptionalities is one of those requirements. It’s an incredibly interesting class, though I wish it could be in-person, and I’m learning so much. Though I am no longer working regularly with the preschool I was working at this past fall I am called in occasionally to substitute, which is awesome. I love getting the chance to see those kids! They are the sweetest.

So now that I’ve told you all my secrets I’ve really got to run. I promised my family stuffed peppers for dinner and I have no idea how to make them.

BYEEE!