Timeout for Art – Art Makes Us See

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Petite Morning Glory w/watercolor in background…

“Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see.”
– Paul Klee

This vine grows wild in the nearby landscape and has exploded into bloom from the recent rains. I often arrange the cobalt-blue flowers in nosegays, which perch on shelves or near the kitchen sink and give me little smiles throughout the day.  Planning to add the petite blue morning glory’s likeness to the butterfly study, I admired the sinuous lines and decided that it deserved its own study!

Watercolor

There are times, when my eye-hand-brain connection is so in sync, that using a pencil before painting would seem redundant. There are other times when that faint map of pencil simplifies the process and strengthens the end result.  After studying the lines of the trailing  vine, I began to paint without the aid of a pencil.

Watercolor – Blue Morning Glory

Timeout for Art: Looking but not Seeing

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Acrylic Painting, art by Lisa Brunetti, botanical paintings, how to see what's there, i can do this painting workshops, Learning how to see, painting flowers, Timeout for art looking but not seeing

All of us are watchers – of television, of time clocks, of traffic on the freeway – but few are observers. Everyone is looking, not many are seeing. (Peter M. Leschak)

Look over my shoulder and see through my eyes!  The flowers in my friends’ Mindo (Ecuador) gardens were the inspiration for this 38 x 54″ painting in progress.  Drawing and painting from life forces us to examine what’s in front of us, and we learn to see instead of guessing what we see!

Timeout for Art: Desire vs. Talent

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Painting butterflies, painting flowers, Timeout for Art

What is real and what is paint?

Without underestimating the value of talent, it’s not the most important attribute you need to become a successful artist. It’s not even second. More important than talent is desire. (Harley Brown)

Drawing or painting in the outdoors challenges us to shift gears, absorb what’s in front of us and try to decide what to include and what to omit. One can find many excuses to procrastinate – the weather’s too hot, too cold or too windy. Perhaps there’s no good place to sit, or you’re an insect magnet!

Guayava tree – (Guava)

If you don’t make an effort to start, you’ve forfeited the potential for growth as an artist! There’s a slight chance that your efforts are going to look horrid, and if so, call them exercises and toss them in the trash! There’s a great chance that you’ll be very pleased with the results, and you’ll wonder what took you so long to sharpen that pencil!

A few weeks ago I taped my watercolor paper to a board, gathered my supplies and journeyed into the garden.