5-Day Challenge + an Invitation

I'm temporarily interrupting my post-Squam trip report to kick off another 5-Day Challenge. I want to paint and this is the quickest way I know to get me there!

yesterday's results: a work in progress, 11x14 on wood fiber panel

she looks a lot like this one, non?

For those of you who are new here, a 5-Day Challenge is when I pledge to go to the table and paint at least once a day for the next five days (or the next four in this case since I started yesterday). And I invite YOU to join me!

Whatever your medium - film, words, melody, paint, yarn, wood, clay, string, pine cones, fabric or glitter - it doesn't matter. Your "art table" might be your computer screen or your dark room; mine involves paint.

It also doesn't matter whether you go to the table for ten minutes or two hours, the goal is to defeat resistance by showing up at the table at least once a day for five days in a row.

It's about practice and play - no perfection necessary.

Care to join me?

Let me know in the comments if you do! I'd love to see what you're up to.

Squam Art Workshops Day 2: Painted Icon

I realized today that my return to work after S.A.W. was easier this year than any of the past three. I suspect is has something to do with the fact that I'm leaving at the end of October to pursue creative and business possibility.

OK I suspect it has a LOT to do with that.

On to Day 2...

practice faces - the one on the left was drawn with a charcoal pencil, the one on the right

with a charcoal stick; both need a bit of work, but I'm happy with the initial results

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Workshop: Painted Icon

Teacher: Misty Mawn

What I learned: how to use a grid to draw a face; that if I squint my eyes while looking at a portrait, shadows become shapes and when I focus on drawing the shapes, facial features magically appear; that I like to draw with charcoal because it's very forgiving; that just because I did something successfully before doesn't mean I'll do it again on a particular day; that I can easily descend into a negative spiral when I'm frustrated and that sometimes, maybe I just need to walk away instead of pushing through

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What a pleasure it was to see Misty again! She was my first teacher at Squam in 2008; in that first class I picked up a paint brush for the first time since kindergarten and never looked back.

I learned some very practical techniques in this class that I look forward to practicing here at home. I also learned a lot about myself and my (in)ability to navigate the tricky process of painting when things just aren't. going. well.

It was a tough class for me - lessons about the self are sometimes the hardest ones, but the good news is that personal turmoil aside, I got to watch Misty work her magic with a paintbrush. And that alone made it all worthwhile.

Day 3: Primary Colors coming up next...