INSANITY

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.”


I’ve heard that said.

I’ve been there and…..

I’ve done that.

Which is why, I’m going to do something different.

I might be pretty one-track minded, here on SKaySpeak for a while.

I have painting on my brain…..some very specific things about painting.

Mainly, the things that I’ve been doing over and over

and over and over

..until I’ve gotten in a rut. I get so frustrated with myself because I don’t get the results I want. Then, I get mad at myself. Then all the critics, which reside in my brain, have a field day with my self esteem. Bah!

The other day when I painted that lemon yellow tree in the forest, it was because I had ‘discovered’ a new yellow in my paint box. It’s been in there ever since I bought an entire box of oil paints at a swap meet…years ago. But I’d never used it.

My ‘go-to’ yellow is cadmium yellow. Just like my go-to blue is pthalo and so is my ‘go-to’ green. I could repeat that over and over for the reds and oranges and purples.

Are you getting the picture that all my pictures come out looking the same?

Duh!

I’m not saying that my painting skills haven’t progressed any in the 15 years I’ve been painting, but I bet if I’d made a point of trying new colors, techniques and methods all along, I would have been a better painter today.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”


That only works if you try something different. Doing the same ol’ same ol’ is just gonna get you the same ol’ results.

I intend to break out of as many ruts as I can which is going to mean trying new colors.
It’s going to mean trying new techniques, too. I have a really hard time keeping myself from getting all caught up in the minutiae of a picture thereby losing the soul of the painting!

So, I am going to start doing some timed paintings. I am going to give myself one hour….max….to capture what it is in a scene that makes me want to paint it in the first place.

I started today in oils. But I’m going to work in acrylics starting tomorrow. They dry so fast that they force me to work faster.

I can’t believe it, but I’m going to show you what I do as I go along. Sometimes, it’s gonna be really B.A.D. But I’m gonna do it, ‘cause it’s a way of keeping me honest, so to speak. If I commit to showing and telling here on SKaySpeak, I’ll be more likely to really do the work.

Here’s the plan.

I found a photo I took in Monument Valley. It has some simple, but interesting elements.

 I am going to paint this every day for……I don’t know how long….maybe 3 or 4 days…maybe longer. The idea is to get the most impact into the painting with as few brush strokes as possible.

Then, I’ll repeat that process with some other photos and/or trees, etc., in my yard.

I need to learn to see what I see better. A tree is not a brown stick with a green cotton ball at the top. Right?


I need to get some of ya’ll painting along with me! We could help each other grow.

I’d be ever so grateful!