Putting it on Paper

Author Mike Stackpole, once said something to the effect of the hardest part of writing is putting your butt in the chair.  For painting, it is putting it on paper. There are a thousand things you can do once you are in your work space, prep work, cleaning, preliminary sketches, choosing what to paint.  But it is at the point where you touch brush to paper that the process really begins. I have been working on the list of prompts for #WorldWaterColorMonth and have been busily putting them on Paper. While some of them I love and I am thrilled with how well they came out. Other painting I like only a portion of, or dislike. I am still happy that I did them.

This post is part of #Microblogmondays, an event hosted by Melissa at http://www.stirrup-queens.com/ the point of which is to create a post that is between 1 word to 8 sentences long at home, on your blog, rather than on other social media. Welcome to those visiting from there.

Progress on the Journey

Originally posted

http://www.rennatatropeano.com/growingunique/2013/08/12/if-life-is-a-journey-what-progress-did-you-make-today/

What did you do today that helped you move closer to your goals?

Today I wandered around Barnes and Noble, picking up various books on topics that interest me. How to books on reworking clothes, Watercolor painting books,photography books, etc.  Each one I picked up reminded me of a similar book that I had picked up on a previous visit.  Each book was in its own way about living a creative life.  If you throw in all the other creative choices, such as cooking, woodworking, gardening, writing, etc., these books have a significant amount of the floor space allotted for adult reading.  I realized that there is a difference between reading and learning.  Many of these books that I have purchased over the years have been books that I read, but did not learn.

Where I am making progress in my creative journey is in photography, and this is because of the mentorship program in which I am participating.  The key word is participating. I am using the camera and talking about it with the other participants.

Week 2 Plus Post-I am participating in the Camera Basics, Beyond Automatic Mentorship by +G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers organized and run by the program directors, +Robin Griggs Wood +Ron Clifford and +Tamara Pruessner Each week I will be posting a Plus …read more

Source: My Google+

Purple Mountains and trees

This is the latest work in progress on the painting with the working title of Purple Mountains. Previous images can be found:

https://rennata.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/painting-pictures-purple-mountains/

I decided that the mountain were a little too bright and sharp for the distance, so I put in a hazy glaze in over the mountains and into the grass at the background. I blended it into the lower portion of the sky. In this painting, I wanted to create the appearance of a large field with the small pond. In order to help show the scale, I decided to add a grouping of trees. I was very pleased with how the trunks of the trees came out, I was looking at different ways of creating the appearance of texture. I usually try and paint more detail than would be noticeable from a distance so that I then end up smoothing it out and the trees seem flat.  Part of the process is learning to see not what you know is there, but what you actually see.