Create space for connection

I am a direct painter and on top of that, a fast painter. As I am painting flowers which is such an epheremal subject, I often jump and rush to the painting often missing the drawing step. I am in a rush and I was not noticed for a while I was missing an other important step : to connect with my subject.

So thanks to Katheline Sperenza who reminded the important of slowing down.

Why to connect ?

I think it is about respecting yourself and being honest to the futur viewers of the coming painting. A painting is an hand-made and soul-made product and it should be made not in speed way as a machine but with heart.

Awareness

I wanted to share with you some good tricks  to increase the work. As we know, we need to be aware and present a great help is asking yourself questions along the process :

• How do you feel today ? Feel tense ? à take a cup of tea and go in front of your subject.

• Where come from the light ? Do you like it this way or do you prefer the light in front/away of your subject à Test it, make a change if necessary.

• Does it feel good to you ? or something feel strange, if yes à test some change, add/take away an object.  Step back, and now is that feel better ?

•  What part do you like in your subject ? and what do you want to show to the viewer ? Is this particular petals who receive the light, this rose amongs a bouquet. When you define it, make sure you will attract viewers on this point. Katherine Speranza said « if everything is important, so nothing is important » so make sure there is something interesting in your painting. In other words share what you did like, your taste, your sensibility and so who you are.
  
  

• And so on… you can add all questions on your feeling and i twill help to connect and feel.

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These questions should be answer not only while setting up your still life but also during the painting session to stay focus and keep the intention.

MUNSELL COLOUR SYSTEM

How to mix your colour with Munsell method.

Maybe you are like me and color mixing is very intuitive. As it is intuitive, it is also pretty messy and I can tell that your painting will get a new level if you add method to the intuition.

If mixing color is not that simple for you as you just start, so it will become much easy by following the method. Let’s me explain.

What is Munsell?

Albert Henry Munsell is an artist and teacher who propore to reference by numbers a very large of quantity of colors. HIs system is now recognized internationaly so very praticle in industry using product with colors.

The method used can be very usefull for painters to apply the same logic of the classificaiton while mixing.  It will simplify the mixing by following a method very easy.

So how colors are define color with Munsell ?

Three criteria :

1)      7 Family color or hue color : Yellow, green, blue, blue purple, red purple, red.

2)      Value from number 1 (dark) to number 9 (light)

3)      Chroma (or intensity of colors). 1 / 2.5 /5 / 7.5 /10

Here the method it is great to keep in mind while mixing :

It is actually questions to have while seeing our color on our subject :

-          What is the family color or hue amongs Munsell system? Find it and take the proper paint tube. Mix color is necessary.

-          What is the value? Find out and add white until you get to the right value

-         What is the chroma ? You add the neutral color of the same value.

What is the neutral color ?

It is grey that you mix and add to your palette before starting.

You can create your own recipe but here the most comon one :

• Add ivory black and burn umber and white (white for the value). You also can add a little of raw umber.

• My recipe these days : I mix use ultramarine blue instead of ivory black + burn umber + titanium white.   

Plus …

An other way to low chroma of a color :

You also can use color directly  from a tube of low chroma of the family colour.

 Exemple : raw umber if we are in yellow family

Burnt umber if we are in red family

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At the difference of what you have learn to do, we don’t think of complementary color to low the chroma but our mixed grey colour. Of course, fondamentally it is kind of the same optical process under it. The difference is the approach. This method made my mixing very easy and more controle on the process.