First, the artist's self. Second, the artist's vision. Third, the artistic message.
Experience teaches artists to feel the colors, design and message without words. To a painter, words can sometimes become a bottomless pit of anxiety. Often I am inspired to start a painting because something has caught my attention, such as, the misty light on a rainy day or an innocent child's voice.
To stay focused with the art of painting it helps to develop a personal technique. Technique for painters are shapes. The size of the shapes. The color of the shapes.
One of my painting techniques I call the "Myers Back Hand". I choose a color and spread it around but not too big. Then I choose another color and paint it next to the first color. Then I proceed to use colors that make smaller or larger painterly shapes that fill my canvas or paper. I try to mix the colors, shapes and sizes into an eye pleasing composition. Now with a small brush I paint black outlines to form the subject composition.
I find this technique keeps my brush moving almost spontaneously. In this way I "discover" the painting hidden on the canvas. It's a technique that rarely fails me.
See my painting "Two Butterflies" in the Birds, Bees and Butterflies gallery as an example of this technique. I continue painting the butterflies one smaller and one larger... keeping the overall composition pleasing. It's okay if the brush enters into another color. Try it.
I am available for online one-on-one art lessons. Please click on ART LESSONS on the home page for more information.
Peace and Love. Russ Myers.