Quiz:
When does copyright of a painting you've created start?

Artist Block:
Artist block is a real thing....what to paint, how to paint it, what media to use and where to find the time....etc. I've been lucky, Artist Block hasn't happen to me in regards to what to create....ideas come to me fast and furious all day long (or all night long...I'm a nighttime creator). One thing leads to another idea and then another and then another.....! Executing it is a different matter.....I don't always have the ability to do what I want. My answer to that is...(not to take away from the famous label brand's saying)...just do it. Do it several times with those triggered ideas adding to the last idea. Now, you are asking, what if the first idea isn't there for you?...no photo, no actual life scenery, no triggered thought comes to you or starts the process?  Start simple...take 5 different colored papers...cut, tear, burn, crumple etc...glue in an artful composition. Move them around...make them 3D or glue flat down on the paper. Try again...this time use those triggered ideas the first composition formed in your head. Try again. Maybe next time...use 5 paints or take a photo and cut it up, rearrange, add paint or color paper. Let loose, have fun and don't worry to much about the ending results (I bet those results will surprise and please you). Now, you are asking...how to find the time or the motivation. It's hard...but what are you waiting for? Give yourself the gift of the time to sit down and create...push yourself to be motivated. Are you depressed because you are not motivated...well, you are depressed because you are not motivated. You will feel better if you just do it...get in there and do something....start small....work toward big.

I can only give you my thoughts and ramblings...it's different for each and every one of us.

DON'T WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE...DO IT...MAKE TIME...GO FOR IT...LOVE YOURSELF....FORGET THE DISHES TODAY....DON'T FEEL GUILTY...DON'T EXPLAIN...YOU'LL FEEL BETTER AND REBORN IF YOU JUST GO IN AND DO SOMETHING... 

Good Luck....let me know how it is going for you.

What to do with all those challenge painting studies????

3D Paintings

This is one way I decided to do my Challenge Trees....those 4" x 3" studies just meant having those small little paintings with nothing to do with them, but to paste them on card fronts (been there, done that). These I can sell or send out as greeting cards.  I experimented and have 3 different ways to fold them.
Let us know about your challenge.

Below you can see my 3D painting in process and you can see my Color String (the blue to yellow-green). Mixing a color string  helps me have ready my tree values.

(I also rubber stamped words...you all know how I love adding words...onto the paper first. It wasn't water proof, so it bled some...which I liked.

What is and how to mix a Color String?

A color string is a line of paint  on your palette that you have premixed with different values. 

Start with a color and you step-by-step make that color either lighter or darker or step-by-step make that original color into another color.

I did a "2-way" string??? I started with  Blue in the middle, then I  added  it's complementary, Red, to darken the blue going in one direction..... Then going from the blue the opposite direction, I added yellow to make the blue more green and lighter. Now I had at least 3 needed values (light, medium and dark). Usually a color string starts with one color and goes in one direction to either lighter, darker or into another color.

Beginners tend to mix their paint as they go...usually guessing along the way. Premixing your values helps you get those...3 needed values, color unity, depth and a smaller color palette.

Enjoy!!!