Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Do Breaks Help?

My painting I bought from Dreama:)

Some of you know I had a whirlwind summer with back to back workshops with Ovanes Berberian and Dreama Tolle Perry. (Both fabulous artists and teachers). It was a heady mix of extreme color boot camp overlade with brushstroke abandon.

Afterward I continued to twirl my way across a rainbow palette like a giddy grade school-er on ice skates for the first time, dancing to disco. It was euphoric but a little like eating all the icing and forgetting about the cake.

To fully learn something, I believe it's best to go all in, (you might have noticed).The more you immerse yourself the more you'll get in return. The method of my madness is to practice a new skill until you can naturally incorporate it into your work more effortlessly. For example, I always try to break up my canvas into unequal areas. I feel it creates more interesting shapes, it appeals to me more and is a basic principle for creating a good composition. Now I don't consciously think about that when I paint, it's almost like second nature.

Did I say too much icing on my cake? Hard to imagine I know. But now I'm evaluating just how much I want to add to my creative diet and evaluating what direction to head next. Every small break, whether it's a weekend or moving, is an opportunity to start over again and for me getting back to basics is a great way to do that.

I really love the drawing process and decided to begin with 3 or 4 thumbnail sketches of each scene followed by a value painting. Most of the problem solving is done in this phase and then I'm free to jump into the painting more intuitively. I especially like working from a black and white reference and allow the color harmony to develop on the palette.

The learning continues and the color adventure is a life long project fueled by personal preferences. The opportunities for improving painting skills are endless and it's my feeling we should do this as often as we can. Workshops, breaks, changing locations, seeing things with beginner's eyes, making a fresh start are all helpful in developing a rich and unique creative life. More cake anyone?

How I've been working things out:



Thanks for hanging in there with this extra long post. I appreciate your time, your comments and welcome
your questions.



10 comments:

  1. You know I love your color, right? Well, I think you should do a series of grisaille paintings! How utterly COOL. And you do them so well! I don't know how you ever did two workshops back to back like that - my head would have split open! It takes me over a year to process ONE good workshop! But thanks for sharing this - and they all look great to me.

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  2. HI Kelley, thanks for commenting. I think I'll land back on planet earth soon but I'm definitely NOT in Kansas anymore:) It all takes a while to process and to figure out where I've landed. I'm sure I'll have more to say about that later....

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  3. Bruce, I love your work .... and I love the way you seem to hope from one country to another with dog in tow.... would love to know how you manage that. I have held off getting another pouch because I want to indulge my travel and painting bug.... would be interested in how you go about finding lodging etc in the places you want to land.... you appear to be leading the kind of life I want to lead.

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  4. Bruce, Anonymous again, not trying to be Anonymous.... but it was the only option I could get to allow me to post... can't figure out the others, I am so totally not computer savey. Linda Shelley

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    1. Hi Anonymous Linda Shelley! Thanks for sending your name. You did it exactly right, you can always post through anonymous and leave your name. If you use gmail you can post with a google ID or the same with yahoo.
      The Robi issue has always been the most difficult and expensive part of the travel issue especially since he's large and can only fly on a cargo plane. He's the reason I drove here from Malta and also a commercial three day ferry from Riga. So it's complicated but I wouldn't have it any other way because he's such good company. I'm happy to share more details if you like, just contact me at brucebingham@gmail.com. Bottom line, it probably costs more to move Robi than me.

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  5. Yes- definitely- workshops and breaks ARE great ideas.....AND - you meet the most fun people there! It was great to finally meet you in person! We DID soak in a lot of great information. I find it helpful to discuss with fellow-like-minded painters what we are taking in & how we might apply it to our work. Sometimes the right opportunities come along for workshops....and it's good to jump in with both feet. Over the years I've become more selective about who I study with, so I go in with some distinct idea of what I'll come away with. .....and afterwards figure out how I want to integrate that new knowledge into what I do. It's exciting, exhilarating...and satisfying taking in new information and putting it to good use. Once I come home I try to bury myself in painting...and trying out the new stuff. Some new techniques meld well with things we've already learned...enhance what we already have up our sleeves...and some is worth trying but we let go of. One of Camille's truisms is that learning new stuff is like opening Pandora's box. Once it's open, you can't put it back in the box....you just have to decide what you want to do with it! My honest hope is that I'll live long enough to paint all that I think I want to paint! I hope you've recovered from the move & are all settled in (at least for as long as you'll be there!). Happy painting!! Seeya stateside one day!

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    1. Hi Roxanne, I agree completely. It was fun painting with you and know we will again. Good luck with your Ireland workshop! I may still be close by and see you there. I with you, I feel like I need to fast tack before I run out of time! Thanks for commenting:)

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  6. I love the way you described the colour exuberance and excitement of those days! Thanks for sharing your thumbnails and value sketches as well, really lovely!

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  7. HI Marcela, thanks so much for commenting. Enjoy your adventure into oils:) I'm addicted for sure. I appreciate your feedback because sometimes I'm not sure how much to share on process, it can get a bit lengthy.... The journey continues!

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  8. Sure don't know how I missed this post.
    Love the thumbnails and the paintings. You are such a good artist and I love and appreciate the way you use a workshop for info but still keep your own vision.

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