It's 10 AM on a Tuesday in paradise......and a day set aside to paint....how much better can it get? I'm working on several new pieces......this one looks a bit garish for my typical traditonal style......must have been the Margaritas! Visit my site at www.sunshine-gallery.com to see more of the works in progress....and a whole lot more art that is finished.

Happy 4th America!


Here's a link for fellow artists.....check it out, sign up, and display your work for the world to see and enjoy! http://tinyurl.com/m67pld

How to control kissing


May 26, 2009


Dear Susan,

When it comes to painting, kissing can be the kiss of death. Kissing is where elements in a painting come up to one another and just lightly touch or rub against one another. It can be the result of painterly timidity or a lack of informed audacity. More than anything, it's an acquired habit that simply needs to be understood. Instructor Marion Boddy-Evans says, "Ideally, elements should be either definitely apart or definitely overlapped."

We all do it from time to time. The best way to find examples is to cruise your own work. Accepting that your paintings are made up of various patches, note where and how these patches approach and touch one another. Here are a few typical kisses:

A background strip of land just comes up to a foreground tree. A cloud wraps itself around a hill. A tree trunk comes down the sky and sits on the edge of the land.

Minor adjustments to these aberrations will often improve compositional strength, form and depth. They neutralize that awkward, two-dimensional look that is rampant these days.

Make the distant land go behind the foreground element. Design the cloud in counterpoint to the hill. Bring the tree trunk down into the land--situate it "in" rather than "on."

Actually, there are no real rules against kissing--only conventions. Things just look better when kissing is under control.

On the other hand, some artists actually look for opportunities to kiss, searching out pictorial elements that might be made to have mutual or tangential edges. This stylistic ploy is used to create distracting relationships and illusions beyond reality, which may be valuable in some cases.

Whatever you do, if you're going to kiss, kiss regularly. One lone kiss generally sticks out as the blunder of an amateur. A work filled with passionate kisses can be intriguing, but a work with no kisses at all fills the viewer's heart with love.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "No kissing please, as this creates a weak, connected shape which will distract the viewer's eye, causing a momentary pause as they puzzle it out." (Marion Boddy-Evans)

Esoterica: Kissing is prevalent in the work of beginning artists as well as mature ones. It has something to do with our innate desire to organize and make sense of our world. Our eyes automatically reorganize elements to give us a more mechanical understanding, and our brush goes along for the ride. When this is understood, you can do something about it. Our world is actually a feast of divine chaos, but pictures are pictures, and there are sound compositional devices to handle the situation.

Perhaps the silver lining in an economic downturn is the continued desire (and more available time) to paint just for the sheer love of painting. That in itself is inspirational and motivating to continue to put paint to canvas almost daily and just have fun. So what if sales and commission consults are down, I am finding creative blessings in the midst of a more deliberate and thoughtful economic perspective.

I have recently added several pieces to my online gallery that you can view at www.sunshine-gallery.com . I am currently close to completing a 20 x 24 canvas landscape/still life of a huge Geranium plant in a claypot atop a stone wall. Stay tuned. Deciding when it is finally done is the hard part!

The last weekend in March was the best on so many levels! The weather was glorious and I had the time of my life with wonderful friends attending a Beth Moore Conference Friday and Saturday. After such a soul enriching experience, I came home to discover 6 art pieces had sold on my website in my absence! Sunday was pretty good as well. I feel blessed!

If you are a fan of praise music click on the link below.....AND DON'T WORRY IT IS NOT REALLY RAP MUSIC. I have searched all week for this song " Shackles: Praise You" that has stuck in my head since the conference over the weekend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmZ9Q21Tl5s

Don't forget to check out my website for new art pieces.......I have added several in the last couple of weeks, and thus far I am staying true to my 2008 commitment. www.sunshine-gallery.com

Satisfaction with having just finished 3 new paintings, and they are now posted on my website at www.sunshine-gallery.com . Just copy and paste the link .....as too many people forget the hyphen mark that is necessary to find my site. Please take a look when you get a chance!

Artfully yours,
Susan

Not to be too braggadocios, but I proudly announce that many of my art pieces are now on display in a unique and eclectic gallery off Palm Valley Road. If you are local to the North Florida area, please contact me for directions and hours. Otherwise, please view my comprehensive inventory of work on my virtual gallery at www.sunshine-gallery.com

As promised to myself as a New Years' resolution to paint more.......I am happy to say I've downloaded 30 paintings of kitchen art, seascapes, and a new line of miniatures with easels to my website at www.sunshine-gallery.com .
Please check it out!

Artfully yours,
Susan

"Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."

 

Staying true to the promises to myself and on track with soul nurturing for 2008..........check out my website to see the seven new oils paintings added at www.sunshine-gallery.com .