Wednesday's painting...

...it is Wednesday isn't it?


The last exercise on the Painting with Joy week long free course.

This last exercise did NOT fill me with joy. I nearly didn't do it. 

I masked off 4 x 8 inch squares on paper with masking tape, because I was not going to waste one of my canvasses.

I have done two today, and I will do the other two tomorrow and then that is most definitely it.

These two pictures I have done this early  morning is one early morning day of my life I will not get back, and I expect the two tomorrow to be the same. I tried to approach this with a good attitude, but I do not have a good attitude about this now.

The below is what the lady asked us in the joy of painting course to do. These are her exact instructions.

"Freedom through limitation. 
Make at least 4 pieces, abstract or representational.
The goal is to show you how much you can do within limitations and how many ideas it can actually help to generate.

Choose three paint colours plus B&W, some scraps of paper for collage, a pencil, an ink pen or ballpoint pen, a piece of charcoal or pastel, and an oil pastel or crayon.

Follow this order as you work:
*You can make two brush marks (any size and shape)
*Make two marks with another tool
*Draw two lines in pencil
*Draw two lines or shapes in ink
*Make one charcoal mark
*Stick on two collage items
*Add two brush marks
*Finish with one mark with oil pastel or crayon"

She said you would find your way with this.

I lost my way with this exercise. If you want the bad paintings, she asked for the other day, here are my bad paintings.

This most certainly was not freedom through limitation for me.

This to me is a weird kind of limitations. There are too many colours to start with. That is not a limitation of palette. I was unable to get into this with all the different brush/tool marks  she asked us to do on the one painting. It felt stilted as I went through the list. I couldn't free any creativity.

I do set myself my own limitations when I paint and I find this a good way of painting/creating. I am creative with paint, tools to use (eg twigs, pegs, lollipop sticks, my old chisels, other workmen’s tools in my tool box, and more. I use coffee to paint with, tea, red onion skins, and so on...). 

Okay, rant over....