Playing with Paint
I took a free course and it was fun
I took a free course from YouTube creator Louise Fletcher at the beginning of September and it was really fun.
Louise is a very kind lady, and she has a real heart to help people find joy. A lot of her exercises are designed to help you let go of the idea of perfection so you can play and have fun—and in the process, maybe you’ll make something great.
This exercise was to use only three colors (plus black and white) and just….paint without thinking about it. Then once it dried, peel the tape—which, I gotta say, was a source of joy all by itself.
I’ve seen exercises like this before, but never actually done it. I picked colors I don’t normally play with—IE, I didn’t use blue—and it was particularly interesting to me that mixing the colors really brought it together. I mean, that’s pretty obvious, right? And I knew that you can bring unity to a piece by mixing a bit of a single color into every color you use—but I don’t mix color all that often. I know. I should mess with it more. I think what holds me back from more mixing is that it takes up space on a palette and then I never quite mix enough, or I mix way too much. It’s a bit silly, really.
It’s paint, it’s supposed to be used.
The second exercise was my favorite, I think. Using tools and colors that I don’t typically use, but painting something I do typically paint.
I used palette knives and my fingers and a whole lot of pink to paint a horse—and then did it again with brushes—and I kinda loved the whole experience. I may finger paint much more often.
The one on the left below is the finger painted horse, the one on the right is the brush painted horse. I think I actually like the finger painted horse better—more visceral, more movement.
Anyway, I was using HIMI gel gouache from Amazon for this fun practice. It dries with a bright, sort of chalky appearance. I have no idea what the color-fastness of it is, but my hopes aren’t super high for it. I’m finding it mentally easier to practice with it, though, and really cut loose using it. It helps that it’s in large pans and it is really easy to re-hydrate. It’s easier to clean up than acrylic, and behaves somewhere between gouache and acrylic. It’s not terribly expensive, so if you want to play with a water soluble paint I would recommend it.
I’m interested to play more.
The abstract painting made me think of a path next to a garden pond filled with lilies. It really turned out quite beautiful!
Letting go of perfection is really hard for me when I try to do art. Would it be better for me to draw imperfectly, or never draw at all but it’s perfect in my head? Ugh, too much overthinking, which seems to be exactly what these exercises are attempting to correct.
I'm so impressed you did the left horse with just your fingers. Although, you have to have incredible control to be able to paint with a brush so I shouldn't be that surprised, I guess. :)
The addition of the tape is interesting. Brings a sense of order to the overall effect.