I'm just finishing up another acrylic painting for a show next Friday. I LOVE working on it. It's one of my favorite spots in Anchorage, at one of my favorite times of year (pictures to be posted by next week). When I look back over the paintings I've done in the past few years, I definitely have my favorites. They are the ones that I have some emotional attachment to....a memory, an experience, time with a friend. When I teach my students to paint, I often give them a reference photo or still life to paint, in order to teach them the basic techniques and principles of design, but to become a great painter, I think it is essential to paint what you love. Keep the principles of design fresh in the back of your mind, but in the forefront should be the experience of art. Carry a pencil and small sketchbook with you or a camera and capture those moments that have significance to you. Observe the world around you. Notice how light plays on color, how great detail is found in even the simplest of subjects, and how every person's face tells a story, even without words.
Then......create.
Then......create.
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