Searching for Sophistication

I've been doing what I love to do on the side:looking at art magazines, looking at art books, watching art videos, until I get my work done and I can paint myself.

This is a new watercolor. I'm still trying to paint without drawing, without a composition in mind, and letting the paint and the process take me along.

But I'm a little discouraged with my art these days. I know I must keep working it out. I wish I had a good mentor besides my own self-exploration.

For instance, why I do I like this version better (digitally altered)? The composition and design elements are much more interesting to me. Am I crazy? The other seems so elemental.

How do I get from there to here? I won't be satisfied until I can paint with a brush dynamic and sophisticated images. But how do you gain sophisticated images when you have an elemental artist's mind? That's my dilemma. Well, back to the art magazines, books, videos, classes, etc. And I'll take any suggestions.

Tearing It Up

"Deep inside, I think drawing and writing help me remain whole in a world that feels so broken apart" - Rick Beerhorst

You're looking at a small art sketch that totally resonates with me and it's mine. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone....especially me, but it does. I practiced a technique I learned last summer in an art class in Cloudcroft. You randomly tear up pages in magazines and then put them back together in a composition that pleases you. This happened to be a very reflective glass and a flower.You then tape everything together and then frame it with small pieces of straight paper. And then paint what you see.

Tearing it up and then putting it all back together again. Taping over the gaps. Re-framing. Taking something destroyed and creating something new. And just like the pages of my art journal, everyday we have a new chance to make something... better.. out of what we had before.

And still, sometimes, I'm self-limiting by my own need to control. What happens to this image when I let go and get messy with it? When I goo-ify it, soften the lines, add circles and smudges? And let the grays go to a beautiful turquoise?

Only endless possibilities.

I'm a possibilitarian.

WOW- that was a blast!