**This blog post shared below was originally posted over on my Patreon page in January of 2019! A lot has changed in the word since then, but not much in my studio! I may “Zoom” more than I used to (and back in 2019 only thought that meant “go fast”) but in my studio practice, I still repaint pieces, explore new palettes, and challenge myself with techniques.
My recent Youtube video is exactly about this concept! Watch it here or you can click below!
Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws. She hums the old to well-known air through innumerable variations. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’m sure as artists, you have all heard time and again how repetition of a subject matter leads to new insights, higher skill, and well, just plain practice. Repetition is a wonderful creative habit and definitely not a new subject within the art world.
Entire careers have been made out of repeating painting subjects. Two examples are Degas’ ballerinas and the salt marshes of Martin Johnson Heade.
When I begin a new panting, I will often make two or three or four studies of the same piece before going larger and then larger still. These paintings are my preparation, practice, my reminders to myself and they lead to more intentional focus. Repeating a painting helps me nail down my thoughts so they are more succinct, easily explained, and simplified. The more I paint, the more I realize I need to study and learn.
New techniques, familiarizing myself with other artists (especially in art history), how to simplify, how to break my pieces down to the most vital information, and the list goes on! We don’t ever “graduate” from a painting practice with a diploma that says we’ve earned all we need to know about the industry. Everything we learn creates more curiosity of “what if?”
I like to employ a form of repetition, in which the same elements recur but in different and unexpected ways, rather than being discarded as soon as they are understood or passed over. ~Graham Nelson
Different and unexpected ways? How would we accomplish this in our daily study?
•Palette differences
•Warmer vs. Cooler underpainting
•Wet underpainting vs. dry (rubbed) underpainting
•Alcohol/Ink/Watercolor/OMS underpainting
•Sanded vs. smooth paper
•Changing the light source/direction/time of day
•Decreasing (or Increasing) shadow/light forms
•Changing edges (hard vs. soft)
These two pieces are similar but have slight variations. Mostly, I was playing and having fun and letting the painting tell me what it wanted, responding to each mark with another and then another.
One thing I want to challenge you to work towards each week, is to repeat the paintings you’re working on again and in a different way.
For example:
After your initial painting practice, take out another smaller sized piece of paper. Choose a size you can handle easily but is slightly smaller than your comfort level. (I like to use as small as 5×5” and up to 12×12” for these studies)
Now, paint another study of the same reference but change something about this second study. Use different techniques than you did the first time.
Experiment with the light source, use different papers, warm up or cool down your palette, etc. Maybe add a human element? (does your painting need a path? or a distant fence? or a far-away barn?). By using a very small piece of paper the pressure is off to “deliver.” We don’t need to worry about wasting a whole piece of expensive paper so not only are we saving pennies, we are purposefully eliminating the ability to fuss too much with the painting itself! It’s just too small!
If you like what you’ve done, go a bit bigger and paint it again. This time you can choose something else to change (or not!). We are purely playing with the marvelous tools and the luscious pastels at our fingertips.
This practice will teach you to better make decisions on your own while developing a more distinct and unique style that is true to YOU. So many artists I speak with get frustrated when they’re alone in their studio after a class or workshop because they have been conditioned to follow the teacher. We’ve been taught to be afraid of our choices because “what if I make the wrong choice!?” Letting go of that line of thinking is so very freeing and I want to help you find your own unique sense of self!
So..challenge accepted?
Maybe you already do a lot of little studies and if you do, bravo! This should be easy. I want to see your 1st and 2nd studies (and 3rd and 4th…?). Post them in our FB group (make sure you’ve joined) and tell us what you decided to change.
I can’t wait to see what your brilliant mind creates.
xoxo,
Bethany
