STARTING POINTS
This piece is a total redo of a painting that I created a couple of months ago. Something was just not right with it. It is OK to revisit and rework old paintings. You have my permission to do so. . I never regret reworking a piece. Think of reworking a painting as an opportunity to learn and make something even better. !0”x 10”, acrylic, collage and pencil on wood.© 2019 David Limrite
“Risk all and let your unconscious be your guide.”
Andre´ Breton, Poet
Starting Points
I rarely get stuck or have creative blockages anymore. I don’t mean to sound like I am bragging. Honest. . I used to have blockages that could last for months. It was terrible. Especially after I finished a series of paintings. My creativity would be spent at that point. It would take me weeks, and yes, sometimes even months to figure out what I was going to create next.
What has helped me with this is to keep a notebook right next to where I paint and record all of my thoughts, ideas, ah-ha moments and possibilities in it. I get my best ideas while I am painting. My thoughts are fleeting so I decided that it was worth the time and effort, even if it was in mid brush stroke, to stop and jot down whatever came to me. And, I have been doing this for years.
Well, now I have many journals with more ideas in them than I will ever be able to paint in my lifetime. And, I’ll never be stuck for what I could paint next. I call these notebooks my “Starting Point Journals.”
Another starting point technique that I use is to jot down 2 or 3 things that I know I want to do to my painting in progress the next day. I tack it directly on my painting or next to it at the end of a painting session. When I return to the painting the next day, I know right where to begin because I have my “starting points”. As a result, I hardly ever get stuck anymore.
I hope these two ideas resonate with you. If you try them, let me know. Or, tell me about your own techniques that prevent you from getting stuck or having creative blockages.
Best,
David
BTW, things are in full swing over on Instagram. Check me out at @davidlimrite
Mixed media collage piece done in the Santa Monica Workshop
©2019 Maria Kolligian
Santa Monica:
MIXED MEDIA FIGURE DRAWING WORKSHOPS
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Explore contemporary figure drawing, painting and mixed media using graphite, charcoal, pastel, acrylic, and collage. Experiment with different approaches for developing the human form such as realism, expressionism and abstraction. Emphasis is placed on observation, structure, line quality, volume, composition, technique, experimentation, and originality. Discussions, art historical examples, and demonstration are all a part of the curriculum.
Working from a model, students are asked to balance risk-taking and exploration with things that they already know how to do well in addition to... +CLICK FOR MORE