First week of Finding Your Joy on-line painting class.
Over all theme: Letting Go.
Achieved by painting to music.
Windows by Chick Corea. Abstract painting. Step One: paint for only as long as the song lasts (8.5 minutes). Panic and exhilaration. Step Two: paint with music in mind but take as long as you want. I think improvisational jazz is a good find for me. Variations on a theme. Organic. Rhythmic.
I thought I’d try a song with lyrics. Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell. Abstract painting. Step One: length of the song (2.5 minutes). Step Two: paint as long as you want with song in mind. Hard to resist the narrative.
I’ll Be There by the Four Tops. Representational painting. Step One: Paint for the length of the song (3 minutes). Less panic. I didn’t feel like I had to cover the whole surface since there was an object (a figure). Painting over the Step One painting. Step Two: paint for as long as you want with song in mind. Lyrics and figure tried to be there at the same time. Keeping intentions isn’t easy.
I thought I’d try again with a different song. Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye. Representational painting. Step one: paint for the length of the song (5 minutes). The experience mirrored the Four Tops Step One version, but different in that the inspiration (the song) was different. Painting over the Step One painting. Step Two: I only allowed myself to paint for the length of the song again. I wanted it to express the song more than the figure. If my long term objective is to paint the “space between” then being comfortable with the suggestion of a figure is good practice.
Bonus content . Two “Journal” paintings experimenting with making dark marks in one and with gesso as an editing tool in the second. The third piece is a literal palette cleanser, or what to do with leftover paint. I think I’ll make this a new practice.
All in all this was a very productive week. Lots of journal writing and watching some video information, too. I’m going to get out of this what I put into it. Not sure I “let go” completely, but it was a good start. The point is to find what brings you joy and paint more of that. Practice. Practice. Practice.