Friday, August 19, 2022

Limited Strokes

Trying out a new (to me) process of painting. Limited Strokes. The idea for this one was to get the painting done in 250 strokes of pastel.

Here is 100, 200, and 250 respectively. I added a little bit more to finish it (check out the finished painting on instagram @bonohbon or on my website bonnieryanart.com) but working in this way was a revelation. I was forced to leave some areas undefined and some edges soft. That's hard for me to do ordinarily. With this method I have to be deliberate and decisive with strokes. Who doesn't want that?

I will admit to some faulty counting (the counting part is actually challenging to stay with) but all in all it worked.

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Rulery Foolery

How many times, I wonder, do I have to learn something I thought I already knew? Started a painting but realized, after I decided it was overworked and didn't like it anymore, that I had been following rules that I didn't have to follow. So I started fresh with the same reference, but without the rules. Much better! 

It's not done yet, obviously but I'm feeling pretty good about it. 

What rules, you ask? Well first off the one that says I have to prove-to you-that I know what I'm doing. That one leads to other rules about formulas for value and color and how to apply pastel. Not that those rules aren't useful but when they jump ahead of the process-the doing-it's easy to lose the energy and soul of the painting. Here is painting #1 in case you're curious.

Heavier, tighter and not very much fun by the end because I was more invested in "pulling it off" that I was in the process of painting. 


How often do you get caught up in proving yourself? How does it turn out?

Sunday, July 3, 2022

So Many Limes


I watched an Arcenio Martin Campos video of him painting with pastels. He called it Tom Foolery with Pastels and it was nearly breathtaking. It's so clear that he is feeling every stroke that he makes. There is a beauty in what he does that goes so beyond the finished painting...which, by the way, he keeps painting over!!! He goes from one figure to the next on the same substrate, eradicating the one underneath by putting a new one on top of it. Nothing short of amazing. 

So in that vein I painted this still life with the idea of keeping every stroke fun and fresh. No fussing, no agonizing over details, no perfection! As soon as I would catch myself trying to belabor something into obedience, I'd stop myself. It was liberating!


I used my timer which definitely helps keep me in check. This is a sample of 10 minute marks I hit. It took me quite a few more 10 min sessions, but here is the finished product.


Moral of the story: Life and painting are both better when you kick perfectionism to the curb.

Friday, June 3, 2022

When I get tired of it?

 So hard to know when something is finished. I read recently it's when whatever you do next won't improve the painting. Makes sense, but how do I know that? I'm not usually so confident in my work that I feel it couldn't be made better. 

Here are 3 intervals at the end of a painting session. So many times at this point I do dozens of small, probably unnecessary things that sometimes even weaken the work. I stopped because I was tired of the painting, not because it couldn't be better. Perhaps I need to go with when whatever I do next won't significantly improve the painting. 

How do you know when to stop?

Thursday, May 26, 2022

More 10 minute snapshots!

 Here is the 2nd half of the 10 minute painting process with the finished product! I really like this system of working.

What systems help you?

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Set the Timer!

 I discovered a new strategy that I've been using the last few paintings. Following the advice of Jen Evenhus https://www.uartpastelpaper.com/uart-tip-38/ I've been setting a timer for 10 minutes at the start of a painting. When the time goes off I stop, photograph and assess. Then I do it again and again...until I am done. I'm finding this simple little trick to be quite impactful. For one thing, if I only paint 10 mins at a time, it's much harder to ruin the whole painting. That in turn makes me less anxious to actually get into the studio and paint. Looking at the photos later is also helping me see my process more clearly. 

 It's still taking me a while to finish (many many 10 min sessions) and it hasn't stopped me from overworking parts but having these stopping points is quite useful to remind me to step back and see where I am and where I want to go next. This is the first three 10 min sessions of a painting I'm working on now. Not done yet but coming along!

Friday, May 6, 2022

My messy non linear process

Tried the same technique as the last painting but it didn't work so well this time. Overall it just doesn't pull together as a painting. It also got overworked and muddy in places. I have a few ideas about why but for now, rather than stop and analyze, I'm going to keep going. I need to trust the process.

Feel free to leave a comment as to what you think went awry (or not) in this painting :)

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Fun!

 Watched several videos today. Sometimes I watch them to avoid painting. I also did studio organizing and even the dishes. Luckily I have a practice and sooner or later I pick up the pastels. Thank goodness for this commitment to paint every day. I had so much fun with this painting. 

I used a new color layering technique. Yes, today the videos were useful :)  

Monday, May 2, 2022

Art practice tip!

 I made some "black boards" to use for figure drawing. I simply painted a big piece of foam core with blackboard paint which you can get at the hardware store. I cut it in half to make it more manageable and voila, an erasable reusable surface to practice on.


It allows me to work much bigger (the boards are about 19"x14") than my sketch book does and I can do tonal drawings using colored chalk. I want to move to working with the figure in pastel at some point so this is perfect. Kind of freeing and fun!

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Spinning

 So hard not to get caught up in the comparing game. It seems everyone is light years ahead of me in painting know-how and skills. I know what I want and I'm so not there yet. I do believe in practice (I do, I do), but sometimes it feels futile, like I'm just spinning my wheels never to arrive. 

These are drawings that want to be paintings or (in the bottom one) a drawing of someone else's painting. What am I doing?????

What are you doing?

Friday, April 22, 2022

What's all the fuss?

Finished the apple peels. Not sure what I think. It was fun till I got fussy with it. Fussy usually means taking the work too seriously. A little fuss is fine...cleaning things up is noble, but a lot of fuss is drudgery and leads to an overworked painting. 


Putting down fresh deliberate marks not only makes a better painting but it's so much more satisfying and fun. On my list of things I want to focus on (ie. improve) this is pretty high.

What's on your list?


Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Biting off more than I can chew

 Every once in a while I start a pastel that I consider biting off more than I can chew. In other words, a subject matter that I think will be challenging for some reason. Often times it's an out-of-the-ordinary reference. In this case it's apple peels (which, of course works well with the chew metaphor :)  Here is the drawing and block in that I did today. Hopefully I will update it as I work on it.

I often do this after I've had a few days in a row of lousy painting. It's a way of working out my feelings of frustration. If I create a challenge that I think is beyond my skills, then it's fine if it doesn't work out. This frees me up to to enjoy the process which is what I really want to be doing all the time anyway. It serves as a sort of restart button.

What gets you out of a painting funk?

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

What does a daily art practice look like?

 I am taking a new tac with this blog. I have a daily art practice but so often it is just me and my sketchbook or me and my pastels. There are so many of us artists out there all working in solitude.  Our "good" work shows up on our instagram feed or our website but that stuff is only the tip of the iceberg.  

What if we were to share our struggle, our messy and not very linear process, our frayed journey? I guess I'll find out.

Here's today's figure drawing. They aren't great but I'm being brave! Besides getting the gesture of the pose I want to start getting comfortable with putting in the head and some indication of the face. I used to leave out heads all the time because, well, they're hard! Now I'm trying to face my fear of heads.

What's your fear?

Monday, March 4, 2019

One of a series of 30 paintings in 30 days...all small and all with this white mug.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011