Work in progress (or "Guess who's back!")

I have an announcement. I, yes I, mother to a 5-month-old (and disorganized owner of 3 dogs AND now aspiring Pilates instructor- more on that later) am FINALLY feeling back to normal and am painting again. So, back to my work in progress, tentatively called Bright Idea. You may remember MONTHS ago, back before I wasn't so pregnant that painting was an aerobic endeavor, I started a painting. You can see the first posts here, here, and here. Well, I've gotten to work on it a few times lately and here's the current progress:

I'm going to have to stop categorizing my progress by day (day 1, day 2, etc.) because sometimes I get to work for 10 minutes, sometimes 2 hours, but the important thing is, I'm working and it feels great!

I need some help, though. The corners are bothering me. The bowl that I placed the lightbulb in to "pose" for this painting has a lattice-type pattern around the lip. I'm not sure how I feel about it in the painting, though. So talk to me people. What do you think? Is it distracting? Interesting? Does it add to the picture or is it just pointless? 

Tell me what's going on with y'all, too? Life changes making time for art difficult? How are you coping? Update me. 

Work in Progress- Day 3- Making (slow) progress

Work in progress- 2nd coat

I don't know if you can tell it or not, but I've started the second coat. I got about 1/4 of it done today. This stage is always just a little frustrating because, since it's my second coat, I feel like it should look better than it does. However, once I step back from it, I realize it really is coming along. I started at the top left corner , however I wiped off that paint and am going to go back to that part. I felt that the lattice work was looking too sharp and may draw attention away from the lightbulb and its reflections. I'll have to experiment with how best to do the corners.
On a side note, I'm thinking of calling this piece "Bright Idea," (Get it? It's a lightbulb...). What do y'all think?

Common mistakes of the new artist and how to avoid them; Part I

I'm trying to provide plenty of visual examples, therefore this will be a 2 part post.
I've been looking at some of my older paintings and noticing the mistakes I made as a newbie artist. About 6 years ago when I started painting, I had no formal training. I just bought some acrylic paints and sorta went to town. Over the years I have gained some knowledge (both from mentors and formal training, and from experience) and the quality of my work (as well as my style) has WILDLY changed. I won't say that one style is better than the other, but my techniques have definitely improved. Below are some mistakes I made and that other rookie painters  tend to make and how to avoid or fix them.

Note: There are exceptions to every rule and you may choose at some point to commit one of these "mistakes" in order to achieve a specific effect.  However, the important word there is "choose." What I have listed here are mistakes people often unconsciously make when getting started painting. 

Mistakes to avoid:

Mistake #1: Making brush strokes go in all one direction. Check it out: 

Brush strokes should not go all one direction

Vary the directions of the strokes

It is especially tempting to make your strokes go in one direction when you're trying to fill a large space like an empty background. Varying your strokes looks much more natural. While we're on the subject of backgrounds...

Mistake # 2: Making the background an after-thought. Ideally you want to paint the background before the main subject. Especially on the last coat (or, of you work with one thick coat instead of many thin coats, you probably want to add to the edges of the items in the foreground of the picture at the end).  If you completely finish the subject and then try to paint the background, the edges will have a forced feel to them. I usually try to paint from back to front. For example, in the painting below, I painted the yellow and red marbles before the blue, since the blue one is in front.

Mistake #3: Finishing one area of the painting at a time. I know that you don't have endless time to paint and painting a layer over the entire painting at each sitting may not be doable. That's not what this is about. The mistake many new artists make is completely finishing one part of the picture before starting on another part. The result is usually a very disjointed final picture. Below are some examples of working on the whole painting rather than one bit at a time. These pictures show one of my paintings in progress.

See how the entire painting progresses from less detail to more detailed rather than filling in all the details of one part while neglecting the rest of the painting? If you find yourself getting too caught up in one little part of the picture, walk away for a few minutes and view it from a distance as a whole.

Mistake #4: Not using a reference or model (if you're doing a representational painting rather than a non-representational abstract).


Mistake #5: Painting what you think you should see instead of what you actually see.

Mistakes #4 and #5 go hand in hand. Say you're painting a picture of an apple. Your brain will probably say, "I know what an apple looks like," so you either attempt to paint without an apple as a model, or you don't look at your model and you paint a roundish thing with a stem. Even if your goal is not realism, having the subject in front of you and truly looking at the qualities of the model will improve and vitalize your picture. Try to turn off that little voice in your head that applies symbols to objects (example: "Apples are round, doors are rectangles, etc."). If you're working from a photograph rather than from life, it might help to turn the picture (and your painting) upside down so that it is less recognizable to your brain. If something seems off with your picture and you can't figure out what it is, it helps to hold the painting (and reference photo, if using) up to a mirror. By reversing the image, you can often see what is and isn't working.

Stay tuned for part II of this post! Are you having any painting problems that you'd like me to address? I love hearing from you!

Autism and the Arts

Warning: This post might be a little wordy. However, I think the information is useful and interesting.
Thursday I did a presentation at UAB (University of Alabama in Birmingham) entitled A Different Point of View: A Discussion of Autism and the Arts. It went so well! I had a great and attentive audience and we had a really good discussion after the presentation. A few people who weren't able to attend have asked me for more details about the presentation, so here's an overview!

Involvement with the arts can have great therapeutic benefit for anyone. Specifically, though, we talked about autism and the characteristics of a person with autism and how the arts can be used as part of their therapy. For brevity's sake I'll just briefly outline some benefits of art (as well as specifics of why they are benefits to someone with autism). Then, I'll give some ideas for creating art with someone with autism (or other disabilities as well).

Social benefits:

Most arts do not require language skills- Many individuals with autism have a hard time with language and communication. Art can be a way for them to relay their emotions without needing to speak.

If done in a group setting art can give everyone in the group a sense of community and common ground- Many individuals with Asperger's syndrome (a syndrome on the autism spectrum, but usually differentiated by strong language skills) suffer from depression because they realize that they are different and would like to belong, however their difficulty in understanding emotions and relationships makes it tough. Art done as a group can help that.

Art in different forms can help them to understand emotions- Some people with autism have an easier time understanding emotions portrayed in books and movies than in real life. I knew a little boy who loved Dr. Seuss and when he didn't like a situation he would yell, "I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM! I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM I AM!" The written word helped him to communicate his emotions.

The art community may be more accepting of the unique qualities of someone on the autism spectrum- There is a documentary called Autism: The Musical about a woman who discovered that people she hired from the local theatre made better progress with her autistic son than many therapists she'd hired. She ended up starting a theatre group for children with autism.

Physical benefits:

Art can help develop motor skills- Many people with autism have trouble with fine or gross (large) motor skills. Fine motor skills can be developed through painting, drawing, cutting paper, making jewelry, etc. Gross motor skills can be developed through dance and theatre

It can be a way to introduce new smells and textures gently- Some people with autism have a strong dislike for certain textures or smells. If, for example, a person dislikes gritty textures, art can be used to help them get over their aversion. You might first have them finger paint with smooth paints, then, if they're enjoying it, you can gradually add just a little bit of sand or salt to the paint. If they start reacting badly to the texture, you can backtrack by having them use a brush instead of their fingers. Eventually, you may even get them to paint on sandpaper.

Behavioral benefits:

Art can be used to either calm and focus a hyper individual, or relax an uptight individual. More on how, specifically, below.

Art can be an outlet for favorite subjects or topic or give them a chance to be as repetitive or detail-oriented as they like-
Many people with autism or Asperger's have a favorite topic. They usually have volumes of knowledge about that one thing, however that may be the only thing they want to talk about. Also, sometimes that thing is not socially appropriate. However, art can give them some freedom. While some people might say that they should not have any opportunity to explore their obsessions, I think that everyone should have a place where they are allowed to be exactly who they are. I knew one boy who was obsessed with toilets... he knew the model number and the flow volume of every toilet on the market and that's all he wanted to talk about. Obviously, that's not a very socially acceptable topic to always discuss. However, he could have painted pictures of toilets and no one would have batted an eye. Us artists sometimes paint weird things. After all, we all know how obsessed I am with my sink and the shininess of my faucet!

Ok, so now some ideas for getting someone with autism involved in art so that they can receive the most benefits possible:
1) Reduce distractions. If possible avoid florescent lights and loud rooms if the person you are working with is easily overwhelmed or distracted. If they are VERY easily overwhelmed, start with familiar items. For example, if they have never used paint before, try ketchup and mustard instead.
2) To calm and focus someone with autism (or anyone, really) don't give them a large canvas and paint. That will only make them more unfocused. Instead give them a small piece of paper and a pencil and maybe a small item for them to draw. Conversely, if he or she is uptight, a canvas and paint may work well.
3) Follow his or her lead. Making someone create is not going to be an enjoyable experience for anyone. Maybe he or she isn't enjoying painting, but is interested in music. Explore all your options.
4) Is he or she practical? Some people may not see the point in creating a painting to hang on the wall, but they may like making something that they can use. Some ideas are: A name plate or "keep out" sign for their room, a bowl, decorating a picture frame, decorating a table or chair, etc. I know you can come up with more!
5) Make sure the setting is safe, both emotionally and physically.
6) Be aware that they may or may not be ok with you in their personal space.
7) Accommodate any physical limitations. If they have trouble using their hands, don't make them make jewelry with tiny beads. You want this to be fun! You can gently add in challenges later at their own pace. There are paint brushes with large, short, rounded handles for easier grip and control as well as other adaptive art supplies on the market.

That's it! If you're in the Birmingham area, VSA of Alabama is a GREAT place to volunteer (all the pictures in this post are courtesy of VSA alabama. I work with them a lot). They have all kinds of arts programming for children and adults with disabilities or terminal illnesses. VSA is a national organization, so no matter where you are, you probably have a local VSA affiliate near you.

So what about y'all? Any of you work with special needs? Have any great ideas, tips, or projects that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them!

Art Bite

Here's today's art bite:

To view other bits and pieces of my current work in progress (aka magical mystery painting) check out the links below.

Art bite 1

Art bite 2

Art bite 3