We learn from our Mistakes, even when we repeat them

"Flash Dance" was not juried in, but continues to be one of my favorites!

I don’t know about you, but I get frustrated with myself. I seem to learn everything the hard way. “Why can’t you do it right, the first time,” I chide myself. “Why does it have to be so doggone hard?”

Not until I’ve done something more than a few times do I get the hang of it. I’m left handed by nature and birth, but was forced into using my right hand. My brain never adjusted. I have frequent bouts throughout the day where I reverse things during the thought process. I know I’m supposed to turn on the right front burner of the stove, but when I’m finished with the action, the back left burner is turning hot.

It happens more than I care to mention. I’ve been known to try to go down an up escalator, especially under stress, and reverse numbers or text in my head when I’m working on a newsletter. Luckily the errors are glaring when I print out a proof copy.

"The Perfect Ending" was not juried in, but continues to be popular online.

And why is it so easy to overlook a composition fluke or the way an object overlaps and turns to create shadow? Because artwork is really about teaching people how to see, including me. Some people are more detailed than others. There are not only intellectual choices to be made, but intuitive ones that come from experience.

Beginning artists should not give up because the learning curve is long. Over time, you will master the techniques and foundational skills that make the difference between novice and professional. Even seasoned artists make mistakes. But they have weathered the storms of criticism and error. They have found ways to accommodate mistakes and have discovered dynamic artistic surprises in the process.

When the confluence of color and line diverge in ways to capture the viewer’s attention and lead them through pathways you’ve created, exciting things happen. Energy, emotion, and pure delight emerge and create sensations that effect lasting impressions. This is the mark of perfection and success.

"Home at Last" was not juried in because they didn't like the frame.

Remember, if you’re not excited by your creation, it isn’t likely anyone else will be, either. On the other hand, if you are able to harness your passion and express it on canvas, others will feel it, too, and be drawn to the vibrancy of your vision.

Don’t worry about the canvases that go unsold, or the ones you may paint over. It’s all part of the experience. Nothing needs to go to waste. Watercolorists often cut out small portions of a ruined painting and frame petite ones that sell well on the market.

I've had a few paintings rejected in juried competition that later sold. I continue to sell prints from the originals. It’s all in the “eye of the beholder.” If you feel strongly about what you’re doing, eventually other people will feel it and become buyers.

"The Pose" a barred owl on my daughter's porch. (Acrylic on canvas)

Two Minute Sketches Push you to the Brink

If you want to become adept at drawing people or doing portraits, “quick studies” offer a way to focus on what’s important. If you’ve never done it, now is the time to start!

Beginning with gesture and motion, focusing on the way a person’s body leans and moves is critical if you want your images to look vibrant and alive rather than just plastic replicas of stick people or flat uninteresting copies. Gesture is what makes each image unique. Exaggerating those gestures makes for a more interesting pose.

Once gesture and movement are identified, then form comes easily. The form makes the figure three-dimensional. Here the weight of the image and the likeness are developed. Completing your gesture sketches with more fully developed drawings of form gives you a foundation on which to build a likeness and imaginative scenes with complex characters.

Practice makes perfect. Some of my sketches are out of proportion. As I become better, the proportions should become more natural. Sometimes I have to slow my drawing hand down to the same level as my brain. I’m hoping my brain will soon catch up to my hand.

C-CURVE (backwards)

S-CURVE Gesture

Portrait studies can be done in the same way. These quick studies force you to see shapes and values before getting into the details. Unless the foundation is solid, the details will still look flat or cubist. If that’s what you want, great! But if likeness and a portrait is your goal, your details need to be placed on accurate solid forms.

Notice the slant of the shoulders

My favorite online teacher is Stan Prokopenko or “Proko.” Here is one of his videos. Practice along with Stan and check out his other videos. If you’re new to portraits or the figure, you need all the help you can get!

http://youtu.be/0I_egPHop9A 

TIPS: Use soft vine charcoal for smooth lines. Make certain you have extra sharpened sticks nearby (they dull quickly). Also use inexpensive drawing paper. The perfect size is 9x12. If you use a larger size as I did below, and try to cram more drawings in on one page, your proportions will end up way off and you'll run out of space to draw.

Online Contest Winner -- First Place for "Hearts Afire"

Online Contest Winner Second Place -- Title: "A Joyful Heart"
Pastel 9x12 on Bristol

Do Definitions Restrict an Artist’s Work or Provide Opportunity?

In a marketplace flooded with artists and a decreasing number of buyers, it’s no surprise that style matters. Affordability often moves decisions, but having a unique flare or approach may make the difference between recognition and sales.

Many artists are using other methods to get noticed. Texture and color are the number one drivers. Jewels and gem stones are being placed on paintings to catch the eye and emphasize a theme. Metalics added to the paint draws the viewer and adds a sheen or glint to the finished painting. Because of this, the fine line between arts and crafts is blurring as more artists’ label their work: “mixed media.” When glitter or pizazz is added to a painting, one wonders which genre the canvas falls under?

"Lucky Lady" 11x14 mixed-media, in red frame (a real playing card & glitter is added)

A recent announcement for a juried show stated: “Medium is open (No crafts please). An artist may question what this means? Interpretation of what makes a canvas or a multi-media board cross over the line into crafts is often a subjective call.

Tattoo art is becoming a legitimate art form as more buyers choose to wear their artwork or use it to make a statement. The artists creating and designing in this genre are finally being recognized for their caliber of artwork. Many of their designs and drawings would make stunning paintings, canvases and wall art.

"Shimmy Shake" mixed media in black frame (glitter is added)

Illustrators and cartoonists are equally skilled. Their work is cutting-edge, exciting and flamboyant. Technology is heightening the impact of digital enhancements that combines with original artwork in a way the Old Masters never envisioned nor imagined.

Adjusting to these changes is every artist’s challenge. We can either get left in the dust or accommodate the fluctuating art scene and rise to the occasion. Today’s artists must adapt and grow to meet the ever changing market.

(Parker Harlowe beside his embellished painting of a ram)

Everything’s always about the Money!

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of curious people wanting to know how much I earn as an artist. When I was honored with a feature, including links and recognition, it was the same: “Did you get paid?” Somehow, if I didn’t, I got screwed; forget the advertising and network opportunities.

Yes, it all boils down to money in the end. The difference between an amateur and a professional is not only the amount of time the artist spends working; it’s that he gets paid enough to “quit his day job.”

I haven’t reached that point yet, but that’s not why I paint. I paint because I have to. On a recent vacation, I sketched my daughter-in-law in 30 minutes and she was thrilled with the finished product. I was able to draw from a live model and get some extra practice in my down time. She had an original sketch revealing how others see her. It was a win win situation although not a nickel changed hands between us.

Don’t get me wrong. When I sell an original painting I’m thrilled; not only am I richer, I’ve opened up space for yet another canvas. When I sell prints off of an original, that’s a plus! That’s like interest from the original investment of time and money.

We artists are a little kooky. We think our gift to the world is valuable enough even if we don't get a monetary reward. After all, most of the famous painters of the past didn't receive recognition or recompense until after they died.


We're kooky in another way. We can’t see the sky without envisioning color and brushstrokes. A tree is not just a tree; it’s a series of negative spaces joined by curved and extended lines. The trunk is examined for various color and the grooved lines or smoothness distinctive to each individual species.

At family gatherings I not only see the people I love, I model their faces with imaginary brushstrokes, shapes and color. I spot artistic faces in a crowd, and I’m off and running. I can’t paint or draw all of the finished paintings I’ve created in my head while traveling in a car or bus.

What makes a true professional? Attitude! I am an artist. I am a writer. These two gifts are intertwined in my soul and both are meant to be used. If I make others happy, if I make people think or question their own motives and attitudes in the process, I've been successful whether money changes hands or not!