Joining the Ranks of the Daily Painters

I paint every day. . . or, at least, I call it painting even though there are days when I’m so exhausted I’m just pushing a brush around.

There are other reasons that painting daily is a struggle.

• Sometimes I’m at a loss for subject matter.
• Sometimes there is a lack of preparation.
• Sometimes there’s a Law and Order marathon on TV.

Use It or Lose It

It was the artist Dan Greene who said that if you miss even one day of drawing, you begin to lose your ability. Conversely, when you draw/ paint every day, you always get better.

Then again, I propose that a break is healthy. When my husband broke his ankle a few months ago, for instance, I gave him a healthy dose of crap – mostly because he decide to run without me. Okay, that’s not the kind of healthy that I was initially thinking about (really who remembers?).

[bctt tweet=”A break can revitalize you, give you a fresh perspective, and give you new purpose.” username=”tashinthestudio”]

A break can revitalize you, give you a fresh perspective, and give you new purpose. My best ideas about art come when I’m not doing art. Sure, maybe I’m looking at the art in the sky (commonly called “clouds“) or the art on the wall (commonly called “graffiti”), but I’m not actually painting then, at least, not while the cops are near me.

Trying really hard to paint every day is a very worthy goal. Just like the best way to get better at running is to run, or the best way to improve your IQ is to watch the Big Bang Theory: the best way to be a better painter is to paint.

And so I shall. Will you join me?

The Objectives:

• In this study, I wanted to experiment with a very dark background. I had just discovered that ultramarine and burnt sienna (a paint I had just recently added to my palette) mixed together made a shocking black.
• I also wanted her torso to disappear into the background to make her tutu pop.

Another version of this ballerina against a turquoise backdrop can be seen at Poetry Matched to Image is the Heart’s Delight.