Guerrilla Painter Chronicles

Creative Map from Fast Company

2012-01-13T12:06:00.005-07:00

This is a link to an amusing graphic about the creative process, from Start to Display, with every possible distraction and complication along the way. From "Has it been done before?" past "Lazy" and the lap track of "Compare to Others" through "Detailing" and the "Motivation Filling Station." There's always the option of "Self Storage" (short or long-term) or a log cabin to disappear into. Watch out for the critics under the bridge, and be thankful for family and friends in the bleachers.

Zoom in to make it big enough to read the signs...

The Art of Urban Sketching

2011-11-23T13:53:00.004-07:00

Urban Sketchers is a nonprofit, international organization dedicated to promoting awareness of the value of location drawing. It is open to anyone who draws on location and can show a regularly updated body of work online.

They have a new book coming out in February which is both a guide and showcase of their diverse membership. It incluldes sketches and observations from more than 50 cities in more than 30 countries around the world. You'll find more than 600 beautiful illustrations, as well as artists' profiles and extended captions where these urban sketchers share their stories, how they work, sketching tips, and the tools behind each drawing.

The author, Gabriel Campanario, is a staff artist at The Seattle Times and the founder of Urban Sketchers. Campanario’s newspaper column, Seattle Sketcher, was awarded first place for blog writing in “The Best of the West” journalism contest.

This 320-page book can be pre-ordered at Amazon.

Goals

2011-08-31T13:03:00.012-06:00

Recently I heard two completely separate radio interviewees, one a financial advisor and one a therapist working with vets returning from war, say exactly the same thing: "I ask them about their goals."

That made me wonder for the first time what goals one might have (beyond learning and having fun) for painting outdoors. (Of course, your first goal, before you even head out, is to banish the inner critic...you can just say, "Bye for now!")

On one end of the continuum, there would be air castles like "Have a significant impact the art world, paint what has never been painted before, make people see things in a new way, make a living as a painter, be a famous teacher..." For most of us, not likely to happen in this lifetime.

Then, closer to the center would be goals like "Create expressive mementos of people, places and pets; practice observing nature and creating compelling compositions; communicate a mood or perspective..." Attainable, perhaps.

At the other end would be goals that one can never fail to achieve: "Practice perspective and proportion, explore the effect of certain colors on each other and on the viewer, experiment with mixing colors, try out different kinds of brush-strokes, discover your strengths, enjoy the interplay of paint, brush, surface and vision, pay attention..." And in the process, create something absolutely unique...something else that you can never fail to do.

Of course, you might want to ask yourself, who is setting these goals, really? The real you, or the anxious ego? The marketplace, the instructor, the cohort, the client? Just being aware of all the potential static in the atmosphere can help us tune in to a clear signal.

A "bad day" painting is better...

2011-07-20T10:51:00.004-06:00

We went painting in Lory State Park recently. I chose a promising spot, a little ways up a steep trail. I had to go back to the car to get something, and by the time I got set up, the light clouds had turned into a steady rain. The Guerrilla Painter had been painting (wild roses) from the car, so it didn't bother him! He was far enough along with his oil sketch that he suggested we look for a covered picnic area where I could paint and he could finish his painting from memory (and other wild roses). By the time we found a picnic area, the rain had stopped, so I decided to take a short hike up to a little waterfall. I took my good friend the Shadebuddy umbrella, just in case. The trail was steep and narrow, but I found a level spot for my chair & umbrella just in front of the waterfall and took out my mini sketchbook to compose the basics of the scene. Odd angles, abstract shapes, moving water and close values created a real challenge, and I spent more time staring rather than drawing. I realized that the stone had a grain to it that resembled water. Then the goldfinches started coming, drinking and bathing in the pool in front of me. What could I do but stare? Next, a spectacular male lazuli bunting appeared. You don't often see them, and, again, all I could do was stare. Soon it was time to go, and I hadn't even finished my sketch. From a "painting" standpoint, the afternoon was a total failure...

The Shambhala Mountain Center

2011-04-11T22:03:00.003-06:00

The Shambhala Mountain Center, a Buddhist retreat center in the foothills of northern Colorado, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The Guerrilla Painter remembers when (back in the '70s) there was virtually nothing there. Now they have a world-class stupa, all kinds of buildings and facilities, and various classes, programs and retreats. Dalai Lama visited recently, using a helicopter to fly in from the Denver airport.

Since they offer their facilities (600 quite, beautiful acres, various lodging options at reasonable rates that include three meals a day), I've often thought that it would be a good venue for a plein air painting workshop.

Will Rogers, Art Critic

2011-02-07T11:15:00.003-07:00

Will Rogers was a world traveler and movie star as well as a humorist.
Here is his opinion about painting, which could serve as encouragement to us all:
"When you ain't nothing else you're an artist--it's one thing you can claim to be and no one can prove you ain't."

Extreme Plein Air, Part 2: Salt Water Media

2010-12-06T15:45:00.011-07:00

This is a page of videos showing renowned U.K. artist Kurt Jackson in action. The first film shows him sketching off the coast of Cornwall, first aboard the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza, keeping an eye on commercial bass fishermen who have been catching dolphins in their nets and killing them, next on an inflatable speedboat which approaches the trawlers to disrupt them, and finally on a more traditional line-fishing boat, which is dolphin-safe.

His paintings on solid ground are also unusual. Some are realistic, some quite abstract, and sometimes the tangled shrubs & branches are reminiscent of Jackson Pollock. He paints on a large (sometimes five feet or more) canvas spread out on the ground and held in place by rocks. He has followed rivers from their source to the sea, painting along the way (sometimes from a boulder in the middle of the stream). He makes notes on the canvas about the experience, noting the weather, wildlife, historical features, botanical species, etc. He uses various and mixed media, from watercolor, ink, oil and acrylic to collage, etching and sculpture. He has painted inside the tin mines of Cornwall and Spain.

He has donated paintings and prints to be auctioned off for the benefit of causes such as WaterAid, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, Greenpeace, among others.

This painting is entitled Every hedge has an eye, every ditch has an ear:

Sketchcrawl # 29 - Saturday October 16th

2010-10-09T14:52:00.002-06:00

This page from the official SketchCrawl website has information about how easy it is to participate. This regularly-sceduled global event began back in '04.

You can view the results of past events: sketches from all over the world of architecture, people, plants & animals, food & drink, landscapes and even the sketchers themselves.

There are no rules:
-Anyone can participate, be it to draw for 20 minutes or the full day .
-Any level of ability is welcome from veteran artists to first time sketchers.
-Any age! Try it with your kids!

Mark Daily - Notes for Outdoor Painting

2010-09-29T13:55:00.004-06:00

This is a page by Mark Daily, an instructor at the Art Students League of Denver, that I happend across today. It discusses his outdoor painting class and has lots of helpful information.

Here are two samples: "... doing an oil painting is like writing a novel without an editor. It's really open-ended. By comparison, doing a woodblock print forces you to make an enormous reduction of facts. You must limit yourself to JUST ENOUGH. There is tremendous value in trying to do this. If you can't get a handle on the essentials of what you are attempting to portray, your results will be very poor, without character. Our best painters are not considered great because they render details better than everyone else. They've built details upon a solid design and fine drawing...Simplicity is an important addition to your fundamental artistic understandings."

"...your artistic development should advance as your skills advance. Artistic development is the more important part because it’s the process of taking responsibility for the what and why of your subject matter. It is a difficult process because there’s no way to know for sure if things are going in the right direction, there’s no one to reassure you. Those 'what' choices are near the heart of you- what has meaning for you. Notice thoughts which inspire you. Pay attention to what you enjoy and stop to record it. Find a way to keep these mental notes on yourself from evaporating, from being lost in the shuffle. A moment, a place, an emotion, a theory, an opinion, whatever; it provides a connection to what in the future might be a painting- the bits of inspiration come from many sources. They will keep coming and they are unique to you."

"En "Plein Air" in the Scotchman Peaks

2010-08-31T15:01:00.003-06:00

en Plein Air (official trailer) from Wildman Pictures on Vimeo.

You could call this "Extreme Plein Air."

Just 60 miles south of the Canadian border, Scotchman Peaks roadless area spans the Idaho-Montana border. Educational film company Wildman Pictures went there with a small group of painters to make a documentary about a five-day plein air adventure.

It should be completed and released this fall.

Panorama

2010-08-25T13:35:00.005-06:00

The Guerrilla Painter has been working on a plein air panorama for the past several weeks. He goes up to the highest point on the ranch and paints a slightly different view every evening. Eventually, twenty-some paintings will form a complete 360* panorama of the surrounding landscape. The full moon was rising a few nights ago, and he said, "This is the first time I've had a sunset and a moonrise in the same painting."

He's noticed the difference each evening in the location (about 10 degrees longitude in a month's time) of the sunset and moonrise. There's nothing like painting outdoors to make you notice things that you usually don't even see.

Thank You, Dr. Estes

2010-08-24T16:02:00.003-06:00

The Guerrilla Painter and I watch the news, sometimes more than I'd prefer. Of course, it's good to know what's going on, but lately things just seem to keep going over the top. It was good to be reminded recently of these words for Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes:

"One of the most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or despair — thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl. Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times.

I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate."

This is from her essay Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times, which was written shortly after 9/11.

Paintings: Jim Biggers and Mary B. White

2010-08-07T11:28:00.006-06:00

We're finally getting around to hanging ten of Jim Biggers' landscape paintings here in the show-room. They make an impressive grouping since they average 20" each (plus the frame). We don't know if they are plein air or not. They depict various locations on Phantom Canyon Ranch, some from high vantage points and others down in the canyon. They were done in 1984.

In addition, there are three large plein air acrylic paintings by .Mary B. White, who is an old friend and former schoolmate of the Guerrilla Painter.

Come and see them at 3121 Kintzley Court, LaPorte, Colorado, 9-5 Mountain Time (11-4 on weekends). We are at the south end of the west building

Bob Dylan, Plein Air Painter

2010-07-29T18:50:00.009-06:00

This website has the 2010 edition of Bob Dylan's Drawn Blank paintings, and it seems like they (at least the drawings) were done outdoors. Some of the earlier collections (2008-9) also included outdoor scenes. He's been drawing, sketching and painting since the 70s, as a practice to "relax and refocus a restless mind".

“The first exhibition I saw at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was of Gauguin paintings and I found I could stand in front of any one of them for as long as I'd sit at the movies, yet not get tired on my feet. I'd lose all sense of time. It was an intriguing thing.”

Re-view

2010-07-09T12:09:00.002-06:00

As I was driving out to the county road a few days ago, I went over the cattle guard and drove past a shrub rose I had planted several years ago. It was in bloom, and I'd been enjoying seeing it there for more than a week. As I drove by, I was wondering if it would be worth a closer look or not. Maybe the blooms were starting to fade and fall off, maybe there wasn't much there to see.

Sometimes you think you know what your surroundings look like, so there's no point in looking again...

I decided to give a half-hearted glance and was stunned to see a bright Western Tanager. Wow! I'd never seen one before (except on the cover of my Western Birds book), so it completely took my breath away.

It reminded me of the time we'd been watching for the mountain lion. One night, the dog had been barking, but every time I checked on the lambs, they seemed unconcerned. Finally we went to bed. The dog barked again, and I thought, "Oh, well, might as well check on them one more time, I guess..." That's when we saw him attacking a lamb and were able to shoot him.

I guess you never really know unless you keep looking.

Eugene Boudin on NPR

2010-07-01T18:37:00.003-06:00

What a fun story on NPR this morning about Eugene Boudin (1824-1898). He began life as a sailor and is famous for his beach and harbor scenes, full of light and scudding clouds. One of the earliest Impressionist painters, he taught Monet to paint outdoors.

Cholla, the Painting Horse

2010-06-13T15:24:00.005-06:00

It's not easy if you have hooves instead of hands. I guess he enjoys the challenge...

Here is his website. He is a Quarter Horse/Mustang who lives in New Mexico. In 2004, after he watched his owner paint the corral fence, she offered him a paintbrush and he's been painting ever since.

Alexander King and Doc Reser

2010-04-28T12:07:00.007-06:00

One of the many things I love about the Guerrilla Painter is that he has miles of old books lined up on shelves everywhere. In one of them that came to our attention recently, there is a description of a plein air painter that really made an impression on me.

The book, written by Alexander King and published in 1963, is entitled Is There Life After Birth?

King lived from 1900-1965 and was an illustrator, painter, art editor (for Vanity Fair and Life magazines) and raconteur.

In the last chapter of this book, he recalls the summer he spent living in Haiti in the mid-thirties, in a large house in a mountain village not far from Port au Prince. He ponders whether any of the people he had come to know there, while obviously living comfortably, were truly happy. He eventually decided that there were a few who were. One of them was Doc Reser, originally a member of the United States occupation forces who had stayed on to become chief supervisor of the native insane asylum. His sense of fulfillment came from befriending his staff and patients, who were on the bottom rung of status-conscious Haitian society. He did what he could for them, and he knew it made a big difference in their lives.

"When I first caught sight of him he had just discovered the pleasures of painting. Since he had no art materials of any kind, he used to distill his colors out of flowers and roots, and his first brush had been contrived out of a swatch of his own hair, which he had fastened onto a kitchen match.

"There was a totally leafless tree out in the back yard of the asylum, and, as if by common agreement, the skinny, permanently molting chickens in the whole dreary neighborhood used to come to roost in it. It was a truly weird sight to see all that bankrupt poultry covering every branch and twig of that dead cottonwood tree, and the day I happened to drop by, Doc was sitting just a little distance away, doing a painting of this apocalyptic manifestation.

"As I watched him I could see almost tangible emanations of pure joy radiating from his pink countenance, which was puckered into folds of amiable concentration. His huge, freckled hand held his tiny brush in creative hesitancy above the piece of cardboard he had propped up against a convenient stone, and as I looked at him I was convinced that Adam, on that first day, in that first garden, could have known no greater happiness than this."

The Magic Eye

2010-03-27T15:08:00.005-06:00

A little while back, I went to hear Sarah Susanka give a talk at Colorado State. She's doing a tour for her latest book, The Not So Big Life. There were big postcards being handed out to each attendee with the above "Magic Eye" image, and it was fun to stare at it as we waited for the talk to begin.

You've seen these images. You unfocus your eyes and they become three-dimensional. What at first seems like a clutter of random colors & shapes turns into something else entirely. The one shown here becomes quite spacious, and, instead of feeling overcrowded, you feel like you have plenty of room to see or navigate through what must be close to two hundred beautiful little balls.

I guess her point was that if you look at things differently, your crowded and hectic life actually offers you plenty of space to breath, observe, choose and enjoy. She talked about her practice of meditation, comparing it to walking along a sidewalk with lots of pedestrian traffic. Just as you don't bump into everyone who's coming toward you, you don't have to identify with every thought that comes into your mind. Then, as we learn to sort our way through the jumble-filled ego, space is created, the atmosphere changes, qualities can come into focus.

Maybe this is what we're looking for when we go painting...to choose just a few things and make a composition. Of course, when we go painting, we're looking at a 3-D scene and changing it into 2-D. Maybe that's why what seems like a good idea in the beginning starts to look too busy or uncomfortable somehow. Looking at the scene in a different way, so that you don't try to capture it all, can create space.

Ayn Rand, of all people...

2010-03-15T16:40:00.005-06:00

Ranting radical that she might have been, Ayn Rand nevertheless understood the spell of plein air painting. Recently, we came across this spot-on description in The Fountainhead of what it's like to be captivated by the process of painting, to be engrossed, to be in the zone.

"He could not say that he liked to paint. It was neither pleasure nor relief, it was self-torture, but, somehow, that didn't matter. He sat on a canvas stool before a small easel and he looked at an empty sweep of hills, at the woods and the sky. He had a quiet pain as sole conception of what he wanted to express, a humble, unbearable tenderness for the sight of the earth around him - and something tight, paralyzed, as sole means to express it. He went on. He tried. He looked at his canvases and knew that nothing was captured in their childish crudeness. It did not matter. No one was to see them. He stacked them carefully in a corner of the shack, and he locked the door before he returned to town. There was no pleasure in it, no pride, no solution; only - while he sat alone before the easel - a sense of peace."

A little later in the book, the architecht Howard Roark explains that his motive and reward is not the money, not the product, not the fame or the effect on people's lives. What means the most to him is the work itself, the doing. To come up with an idea and then take action to make it real.

Encouraging Words from Ira Glass

2010-03-02T14:06:00.001-07:00

He understands what it's like...

The Mind's Eye

2010-02-15T15:11:00.002-07:00

Well, like Antoine de Saint-Exupery says, "The essential is invisible for the eyes."

Artist of Tomorrow

2010-01-25T18:07:00.002-07:00

Art Lab

2010-01-10T16:38:00.004-07:00

Here's something new and different. You've all heard about the high vacancy rates in commercial real estate? What if a storefront became a temporary art gallery, rehearsal or performance space, a studio or classroom for sculptors, painters or photographers?

That's the idea behind Art Lab in Old Town Fort Collins, which began last summer:

"We’re on a mission to fill the empty retail space in Old Town Fort Collins with art, innovation, music and thought-provoking creativity. This concept is just taking shape, but watch the lonely store fronts in Old Town. You never know what you might see – ballet students, rock bands, videos, cartoons, robots…the list goes on and on."

The space is free for participating artists and for the spectators.

Ahmad Al Karkhi, Iraqi Painter

2010-01-05T17:37:00.008-07:00

There was a beautiful story on NPR this morning about Iraqi painter Ahmad Al Karkhi. He had to flee his homeland in 2006, first to Damascus and eventually(after three years) to the United States. He has spent his time painting his memories of a peaceful Iraq and the people he remembers.

Art for the Animals Project

2009-12-20T11:33:00.004-07:00

This is a blog about the Art for the Animals Project begun by Sheila Tajima and Carrie Jacobson, which encourages artists to visit an animal shelter or rescue, do sketches of one or more of the animals and donate the painting (or drawing). The shelter can use the painting however it wishes, to auction off, to donate to the person who adopts the animal or to a volunteer, to reproduce as note cards or for publicity purposes. The artist receives recognition and a donation receipt for tax purposes. The blog will also post paintings for additional recognition.

Not only dogs and cats are featured, but also horses, a lamb, a goat, a ferret and even a pig. I suppose most of the paintings are done from photos, but it would be more fun to do them on-the-spot from life. Good practice for capturing the essence of something in a limited time.

Of course, you should contact the shelter first to make arrangements. This would be a way to get motivated and also to try different techniques you've been thinking of, such as off-the-wall colors, dramatic compositions, close-ups, abstract brushstrokes or washes, etc. Invite your friends.

A Bad Watercolor Day for Hitler

2009-11-19T16:34:00.002-07:00

This is funny, assuming you have enough distance between you & the Third Reich:

Trail Tale

2009-11-09T14:09:00.006-07:00

A friend & I went out painting last week in a "natural area" near a trail that was being used by hikers, joggers, etc. We didn't have much time, since the sun sets early this time of year, and we were engrossed, ignoring the occasional foot traffic behind us.

After quite some time, I heard a voice from the trail say, "Could you start talking?" I didn't pay any attention, but my friend said, "What?" and the voice replied, "Just say anything...so he knows that you're just people."

I looked up and saw a horse & rider on the trail. The horse was standing stock-still, head up, ears alert, nostrils flaring. I started talking in a reassuring tone. I asked if we should stand up so he could see us better, but she said, "No, he needs to get used to weird things." It must have been the silver umbrella facing into the sun that struck fear into his heart. I kept coaxing, and eventually he walked up and sniffed my outstretched hand. Brave boy! He even walked over a wooden-plank bridge when they went on their way.

There have been many books written lately about new ways to relate to horses, from learning about "prey consciousness," learning their language, to Equine Assisted Therapy, to intuitive communication and tapping into collective consciousness by listening to our horses. I think these techniques are the same things we need when we go painting - to create calm, confident energy and a clear intention, to visualize the desired outcome, try looking at things "soft-focus," to silence the inner critic, to be in the moment, be authentic, be patient (and to patient with yourself).

And to be open to the magic of a chance encounter.

Swimming with Keats

2009-10-15T13:23:00.004-06:00

In the new movie "Bright Star," John Keats describes poetry in a way that could just as well refer to painting. He says, "The point of diving in a lake is not immediately to swim to the shore; it's to be in the lake, to luxuriate in the sensation of water. You do not work the lake out. It is an experience beyond thought. Poetry soothes and emboldens the soul to accept mystery."

Mmm...and the colors of our paint are at least as much fun as diving into a lake. Maybe even better. And certainly we are dealing with mystery. The mysteries of light, shadows, clouds, wind & weather. We wonder what the painting will look like, a one-of-a-kind creation under the influence of mood, muscle memory, imagination and point of view. Accept mystery.

Sketchcrawl - Saturday, September 19th

2009-09-16T20:15:00.003-06:00

Here's a fun idea - a worldwide day for sketching whatever you see. Get together with cohorts, or go it alone, then post your results on the Sketchcrawl website. It will make you pay attention to your everyday surroundings, maybe see things you've never noticed before. It's funny how even a fire hydrant can become a beautiful watercolor sketch. No rules. Take 20 minutes or make a day of it. All skill levels welcome, from beginner to pro. Invite the kids. Use a pencil, pen, brush-pen, watercolors (or those new watercolor crayons), colored pencils, pastels...

Enrico Casarosa is a storyboard artist living in San Francisco, working in animation by day, publishing artbooks and comics by night. Stuck between the gravitational pulls of Italy (his home country) and Japan (a cultural passion). Inspired by a bachelor party pub-crawl in 2006, he got the idea for sketching marathons and started doing it every few months, spreading the word until now it's happening worldwide.

La Paloma

2009-07-11T14:10:00.006-06:00

Pablo Picasso has been famously quoted as saying something like, "To paint a dove, one must first wring its neck." I always thought it must have something to do with his cubist style, but in a broader sense, we all do that when we paint. Even the most realistic, sensitive works are about taking something's essence and turning it into something else - a painting. And, in the end, the painting has to survive or fail on its own merits. Two dimensions and a limited palette (they're *all* limited) is all you get, regardless of how dynamic & fascinating the subject matter that stands in front of your easel.

The payoff is that you have an experience (probably a learning experience), a souvenir and something you can share (even down through the generations). And, of course, the ultimate payoff is your increased awareness and facility. The qualities that you see in front of you eventually become part of you.

Starry Night

2009-06-16T16:11:00.009-06:00

We just got back from a trip overseas. As we were coming in for a landing, I started talking to the man next to me, and it turned out it was Paul Davids, who had written, produced and directed a movie with Universal Studios about Vincent van Gogh. Entitled Starry Night, its intriguing premise is: What if van Gogh could return to life in our century...what would he think about the fate of his paintings, all the money they had generated, and what would he do about it?

Davids is quoted in a review from the Edenburgh International Film Festival:

"The film is a little bit of counter-programming against the wave of edgy movies that are being made now. It's very intentionally a family film about love, second chances, hope, optimism and faith, but it does have a strong undercurrent of irony. We wanted to celebrate van Gogh's genius and to give youngsters an impression of the life of an artist."

It won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the Newport Beach Film Festival, out of 400 submitted.

Starry Night is available from Amazon and from its own site.

Pegasus

2009-05-25T15:15:00.011-06:00

Pegasus, my last remaining wolfdog, died of lymphoma recently. I knew there was nothing we could do. I'd felt the hard lumps under his jaws, but he seemed so healthy otherwise that it came as a bit of a surprise when, after a few months, he stopped eating and drinking. In the midst of a heavy spring blizzard, we said goodbye. He was ten and a half years old.

One of the things that helped ease the pain was the routine of feeding the other dogs. I'd go out to the shed as usual, pretending that he was still there with them.

Routine sometimes has a bad reputation among painters, but it's definitely part of the process. The sun comes up every morning, we breathe in, we breathe out. Part of our purpose is to avoid stereotypes, but habit can be like a tuning fork, reminding us to pay attention. Is it possible to make a habit of freshness, originality? Look at those colors, the depth, the softness. It won't always be there like it is now.

Low-Budget Travel

2009-04-05T15:23:00.007-06:00

Painting outdoors is a relatively low-budget activity, and you can do it without going out of town. I like the idea of planting a vegetable garden and using it as a subject for painting as well as for food. Painting your pets is rewarding, whether or not you end up with a finished painting...it's the increased awareness that counts. The look in their eyes, the poise & strength, the shadings of their coat, the shape of the eyes...

But sometimes you do want to travel. It's refreshing, inspiring, enlightening, you can visit museums, friends & family or your ancestral homeland, and experience completely different food, people, art, architecture and landscapes.

There are ways to make it less expensive. Don't buy anything in an airport, go to grocery stores instead of restaurants, fly standby off-season, camp out, or go where the dollar will buy more (like South America instead of Europe).

Here are some websites that are devoted to traveling on a shoestring:
No Budget Travel is a blog with all kinds of information & recommendations.
Couch Surfing facilitates finding (and offering) a free place to stay.
The Hospitality Club has a similar purpose.
There are also sites for inexpensive rooms or apartments. Try AirBnB or Free Rentals (the rooms aren't free, but listing a rental is).
And The Simple Dollar gives lots of general advice about saving & managing money (I've used the "make your own laundry detergent" recipe, which is fun & effective).

Change

2009-03-11T09:26:00.009-06:00

I recently came across this, writtin by John Stoehr in the Charleston City Paper, on the topic of the arts and the way they have changed since we all got linked up online:

"These have characteristics that challenge the old guard of established arts professionals... These characteristics include participation over presentation, collaboration over competition, amateurism (in the best sense of the word) over professionalism, and process over product."

That's as good a definition of guerrilla painting as I've heard anywhere...and since "amateurism" means doing something for the love of it rather than for the money it makes you, that's as sound a reason as any. You want to learn something, enjoy the colors, do justice to your subject and to your own perceptions & feelings, but it doesn't have anything to do with making money from it.
He continues:

"Grassroots creativity is an old idea (Walt Whitman exulted the inventive potential of diversity), but the difference now is scale.
Ninety-five million Americans are applying the ideals of Web 2.0 to the real world, including their approach to the arts."

Hmmm...makes you wonder what that might look like.
Probably something quite different from what we grew up with...

"This can be troubling to institutions like art museums, says Nina Simon, a consultant and author of Museum 2.0 (www.museumtwo.blogspot.com). In trying to serve what MIT media professor Henry Jenkins has aptly called the emergence of "convergence culture," museums are increasingly afraid of "losing control."

John Stoehr
Charleston City Paper
Charleston South Carolina

I like to think it will bring more beauty. Like the lamplighters in The Little Prince, lighting their lamps as dusk falls in different parts of the world. Like a dance.

Artist Corps

2009-01-28T16:20:00.004-07:00

Artful Innovation: Obama and Arts Education
The concept of an "Artist Corps" is an interesting part of President Obama's education policy. Of course, if artists are to teach, especially in inner-city schools, they'll have to be trained in *that* job as well as being trained artists.

It would certainly help to keep kids interested & engaged at school, and this interest might overflow into their other classes. Their awareness would be enhanced, they might create mental connections that they otherwise wouldn't and see solutions & possibilities that they hadn't thought of before. A real open-ended endeavor, likely to pay dividends on down the road. Sort of a jump-start to teach kids they can make things happen, take criticism, change things, express themselves and their world, make effective decisions, interact, concentrate, participate...and that sometimes there are no wrong answers.

Yes we can.

Waltz of the Colors

2009-01-13T16:25:00.005-07:00

Last month we had a benefit sale for 1+1, the charity that the Guerrilla Painter started for rural development in Latin America. There were all kinds of things from Bolivia & Peru for sale. One of my friends, who had been to Bolivia, was commenting about how she liked the oddball things: antique aguayos (hand-woven woolen pack-cloths) and a lantern from the silver mines in Potosi, where she had actually been inside a mine. She remembered how amazing it was to see the miners, working hard and smoking cigarettes inside the mines and using these lanterns, which burned up oxygen which was already scarce enough at over 13,000’ altitude. Obviously, when she looked at this little lantern, she saw something different from what most people saw.

This is what happens when we look at our surroundings for things to paint…we see things differently from anyone else. Sometimes we end up looking for subject matter similar to what we’ve seen other people paint, but this conventional wisdom can often result in uninteresting paintings and frustrating experiences. It’s more work to see things with fresh eyes, and it’s hard to value our own vision sometimes, but isn’t that what painting is all about?

I happened to be in Denver yesterday, standing in a parking lot near a highway, waiting for a few minutes. I focused on a highway sign and the cars going by. I wondered how I would paint such a mundane scene, and then I noticed how colorful it really was. Blocks of bright colors interacting, like a dance.

One palette, many visions. You choose. Austere or rich, or a combination of the two...traditional or edgy, ambiguous or vivid...

"In self-trust all virtues are comprehended." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Plein-car, plein-van, plein-camper

2008-11-02T14:13:00.004-07:00

Sometimes your best painting buddy is your vehicle. If the weather turns chilly or breezy (or even if it’s just too sunny) all you have to do is find a place to park where you can paint out the window. If you have a hatchback (or a camper shell), you have more options for finding a view. The Guerrilla Painter does this all the time, and he finds that listening to the radio helps him concentrate (of course, I’d want to avoid the news, which has been way too interesting lately).

Often, it’s while I’m driving that I’ll notice something worth painting, so it’s easy enough to just find a place to pull over. It’s a good habit to keep your gear in your car, ready for any opportunity. It only takes a few minutes to shift into "right-brain" mode and notice colors, shapes, lines, value contrasts. Maybe you find yourself waiting for someone, or there’s just a few more minutes of daylight with the sky turning colors, or you notice an intriguing architectural detail...

Sitting in a car can also help you focus by protecting your privacy & keeping annoying onlookers at a distance.

Keep Them Wild

2008-09-29T11:07:00.009-06:00

We recently had to kill a mountain lion who had been preying on our lambs and hens. It turned out that he was missing one of his canine teeth and had a gum infection, so he might have been having trouble bringing down deer.

This really got my attention, because the Guerrilla Painter has been living here for 30 years and cougars have only been seen twice (up in trees). This one was coming around the buildings, sometimes in the daytime.

I did some reading, and it appears that the cougar population has been increasing at the same time that people have been moving into their habitat. They are by nature reclusive, but they will follow the deer (and raccoons). Sometimes people allow deer in their neighborhood, or raccoons may be attracted to dumpsters, and if a cougar follows them there, it can become habituated to humans and possibly become a threat to pets and people.

I used to live in a foothills neighborhood with its own year-round resident herd of mule deer, and they were so much fun to watch. It never occurred to us to chase them away. Cougars (and their tracks) were seen only occasionally, and we expected that they would remain aloof. But that isn’t always what happens.

Keep Me Wild is a program that California has implemented to reduce wildlife/human conflict. There's no place to relocate problem predators in California, so prevention is the only good solution. Sometimes it's counter-intuitive to chase deer off your property, but it keeps them (and the rest of the food chain) wild. If you see a predator, you might be saving its life if you blast it with bear spray, an air horn or rubber buckshot.

Medicine Bow Mountains

2008-08-13T13:10:00.002-06:00

Often, it seems that a painting experience turns into a story. That’s what happened when we went up to Saratoga Wyoming for the weekend.
On the way there, we took a shortcut through the Medicine Bow National Forest and stopped to paint. There were aspen trees, distant mountains, and some old ranch buildings, but I settled on a hillside of sagebrush. There was an interesting pattern of amber-colored tall grass, blue-green sage and lavender clouds.

About halfway through, when we’d been sitting quietly for maybe an hour, a young mule deer buck wandered into view. His antlers were in velvet, so it was hard to tell if he had one or two points. He browsed for awhile, less than 50 feet away. Then off to my right I heard something that sounded like a house cat. “Meow...” But what appeared was not a cat but a fawn, walking toward the buck. When it reached him, they sniffed each other, and the buck, wide-eyed, snorted and bolted away. It was like a teenager being approached by a baby sibling while he was busy being cool.

The fawn went off in another direction to find its mom. A case of mistaken identity, I guess.

Sketches

2008-07-19T11:47:00.006-06:00

Sometimes a "sketch" is a very involved drawing used as a preliminary study for a painting, but I like to think of it as a minimalist composition, just the essence of something.

I've started to "go sketching" instead of going painting, packing just a pencil & eraser instead of water, paint & brushes. I'm not sure it's always quicker or easier, but it does give you more of a feeling of freedom. You can erase, you can make it small & simple. You know it's not supposed to be a finished product. And if you happen to be in a crowded environment (or anyplace public) you can be unobtrusisve.

It's especially effective when doing animals, since they're liable to turn or walk away. You can capture the outline of their head or their back. Even flowers can move, too, if it's breezy or if they're the kind that folds up at night.

You can still get the same quality of focus as when you're painting, maybe even moreso, since there's not so much standing between you and your subject.

Work From Home

2008-06-18T21:57:00.004-06:00

The price of gas being what it is, and what it's likely to be in the future, it's a good thing you don't need to drive anywhere to go painting.

The Guerrilla Painter is especially adept at making paintings out of the simplest things. Once he painted a salt block. Once, we were driving home from California and we stopped just east of Sacramento to paint. I thought, "There's nothing here...There's a dirt road, some telephone poles...what's to paint?" His painting turned out beautifully, lots of depth & texture.

Maybe there's nothing around except trees. Try to use them in a composition that has rhythm & life, in a relationship you've never seen before. It's like what the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance told his writing students. What makes this thing unique? Part of what makes it unique is your point of view, your vision.

Think globally, paint locally.

Artist Trading Cards

2008-05-16T17:45:00.005-06:00

Artist Trading Cards have been around since at least 1997. A simple concept...artists use any medium (paint, print, sketching, collage etc.) on a 2.5"X3.5" card (cardstock or any other thin support). They put their name & contact info on the back, trade with each other and collect them. There are trading shows and websites, or maybe the art students in a school will trade with each other when they graduate so they can remember each other ("...I knew her when...")

Some people might sell them, but the concept isn't about making money. It's about creating links.

This seems perfectly adapted to painting outdoors: using a lightweight, conveniently sized support to make something specific to your own neighborhood & landscape and then trading with others around the country or world.

A Lot Like Work

2008-05-09T20:06:00.004-06:00

Sometimes it seems that painting outdoors is an awful lot like work.

Recently we were on the west coast, and we went painting on the seashore. The weather was perfect (northern California, breezy, sunny and mild) and we were in a state park, so it was picturesque and not too crowded. What could be easier than doing a watercolor of some small, windblown eucalyptus trees with bright iceplant blooming on the sand next to a fallen log? Well...
I started off in the routine way, framing the scene in my composition finder, marking divisions on the side of the paper, sketching in the trees, log and foreground grass. Then I looked more closely at the tangle of branches, and the "monkey mind" started in with its complaints:
"Look! There's some little birds swimming on the water...wouldn't it be more fun to watch them?"
"Ouch. What's that? My finger is bleeding. Bleeding!"
"Listen to those people having fun. Wouldn't it be more fun to just go wading? You're just an outsider, sitting here trying to paint these trees."
"Um...there's a truck on the beach with big numbers '911' on its side. Something must be wrong." "Are you sure you have enough water? You're going to get thirsty."
"This concrete ledge is starting to feel awfully hard..."

Finally, the voice quieted down and even went away as I kept focusing on the scene. I was feeling grateful that I wasn't a professional painter. It wasn't easy to paint it, but I did manage to cover the paper and even make it resemble what I was looking at. It took three hours altogether (and the concrete was indeed feeling very hard), but it was rewarding work. Maybe that's a good thing to say to the monkey mind's complaints: "Don't worry, nobody has to look at this, and eventually hard work will pay off."

Versions of Truth

2008-04-17T16:04:00.005-06:00

When you're painting from life, there's a funny kind of dual reality happening. You're painting a scene, but it's a *painting* ...you look at your trees, your telephone pole, your outhouse, whatever, and you try to sketch them out accurately, but at the same time, you're creating something altogether original.
Recently there was an article in The New Yorker called "Just the Facts, Ma'am" comparing history and fiction. They each have their own kind of "truth," and the facts of history can be as misleading as fantasy if they aren't understood in context. Every historian has a point of view, historical sources are incomplete and were written by people who were not under oath and cannot be cross-examined.

It reminds me of the difference between a painting and a photo of the same scene; the photo might be factual, but the colors might be off, the dark values might conceal subtleties, the details might overwhelm the view, and even the perspective can be distorted by the camera lens. The artist brings his/her imagination and judgments to the work, creating a more meaningful version of "reality."

Or, it's like the difference between a realistic painting and a more expressive version. Like Wolf Kahn here, who gives color a life of its own. He probably has a head start since he uses pastels, and all the colors are there for the choosing, no need to mix the color you want. You can try any color just by holding it up to the painting. Let's see, lavender and...lime green? ...and...coral!

Artistic License

2008-03-07T15:14:00.002-07:00

Artistic License for Guerrilla Painters

This is to certify that___________________________________________________________________________
is entitled to operate an artistic vehicle and to participate in creative pursuits including, but not limited to, sketching, drawing, painting, collage, color mixing & charts, visiting galleries & museums, reading books and studying nature.

The imagination may be fully engaged. Ideas & concepts may evolve & change. New brain cells are a possibility. It is important to maintain awareness, whether the eyes are squinting or wide open. Lines may be crossed or become blurry. Perspective may not always exist.

The holder is entitled to make friends with the Mysterious, the Ambiguous, & the Unfamiliar, and acknowledge unexpected Juxtapositions.

The work deserves your wholehearted attention. It is entitled to its own individual character. It may be criticized but not humiliated, neglected or abused. It is best to play with your work (if you don’t, it will go to someone who will). Please spend time regularly. Listen & look. Entertain Spontaneity.

Baggage

2007-11-27T23:10:00.001-07:00

Here’s an example of what I call the “baggage” that surrounds the concept of art. Impedimenta. Something for a guerrilla painter to be wary of...in this case, official opinions.

Recently, ArtReview magazine published its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the art world. They include not just artists but also dealers, critics, museum directors, collectors, curators and art-fair organizers. When the Wall Street Journal (yes) published excerpts, it trumpeted: "The people who make or break art." "The top players." "Who rules the art world?" Oh, please.

ArtReview is based in London, but its view is global. The editors mention some of the things that might affect the ranking: blockbuster exhibitions, new commissions, the value of the dollar, taste of Russian buyers, locations of auction activity, or symbiosis of curator and donor.

The editors make the comment, “...if artists have always lived in the shadow of their patrons, it’s the artwork that ultimately endures.” I’d like to make the observation that the artwork endures as long as someone cares enough to take care of it. Sometimes even bronze statues are stolen and melted down for the value of the metal. Private collections might be housed in private museums, but museums, whether public or private, depend on funding, which can shift with the political, economic or cultural winds.

I suppose it’s only human to want to rank things & people. But the whole point of what we broadly refer to as art is its meaning. And meaning is always personal and individual. We just have to take the time to become aware of it, to discover or create it for ourselves.

Encore

2007-09-22T21:38:00.001-06:00

Awhile back, I overheard an artist giving advice to a friend who paints. The only part I could hear clearly was, "Paint it, wipe it off, paint it, wipe it off..."

At first, this sounded like a recipe for frustration. But then I remembered when I'd done a face on watercolor canvas and I kept making "improvements." What I had at first was okay, but I wanted it better, so I kept making changes. I came to a point where I had to erase most of it (you can do that on watercolor canvas) and start over. To my surprise, it wasn't really like starting over, because the face had been created in my mind as well as on the canvas. Very few visual cues were left in place, but they were more than enough for me to re-create the whole thing.

Of course, you can't do this on watercolor paper, but if you've ever thought of painting the same scene repetedly, that would have the same effect. Try different styles, different times of day, different weather, different brightness of colors...or maybe just do it the same way. It will sink in to your consciousness and become much easier to do.

Distant Vistas

2007-08-15T10:12:00.002-06:00

We didn’t go into town to see the fireworks on July 4th, even though Fort Collins puts on a great show. It’s just way too crowded, whether you try to go to City Park or watch from above on the ridges of the foothills. Instead, we drove up 287 to the Wyoming line. We saw the Virginia Dale stage station (home of the infamous Jack Slade) where Lincoln’s Vice President Colfax stopped on his tour of western mining towns.

When we turned around to go back, the scenery was spectacular. Broad, distant vistas, stormy skies, rainbows (three, or one and a half, depending on how you count them) dramatic shadows and bright sunlit bluffs. It was the kind of thing that makes a painter think, “Wow, I’d love to paint that,” and “I could never paint that” at the same time. The kind of thing that makes painting conventions like point of interest, balance, perspective and depth just seem irrelevant. Charles Hawthorne actually came right out and said, “Avoid distant views.” Just looking at the vast distance can be intimidating. Makes you wonder where you fit in.

If you use watercolor, it’s especially challenging, because you can’t just keep messing with it until it works.

But there are people who do make it work, using all different mediums. D.F. Gray is one who uses pastels (see image above). Living on the seacoast, he has the advantage of interesting skies and reflections in the water. Here in the western foothills, there’s not much atmospheric perspective, and the sky can be pure blue. This is where abstraction comes to the rescue. Call it “color field” painting, and let it be about the shapes, textures and colors and how they relate. You are hereby authorized to make your own landscape, or to make the landscape your own.

Mission Creep

2007-06-20T10:09:00.001-06:00

I've been resisting going out to paint for awhile, even though the weather's been just fine. I think it has to do with "mission creep."

Last year, I'd come up with a few paintings that were good enough to frame, and it influenced my expectations. You start with a healthy, reasonable goal of having fun, learning a bit or making a souvenir sketch, and then you start to think maybe you'll do something brand new that's never been done before or make a beautiful painting, or make something that will sell, and there you go, skidding right off the edge of reality.

Being hopeful is a good thing, but sometimes if you aim for less, you actually accomplish more.
Last week I finally went outside to paint. I had some watercolor paper that had a purple wash on 2/3rds of it, and I knew that this painting would be strictly for fun. I could scrub away parts of it, but on the whole it would be an experiment in purple & green. No pressure, no apprehension.
A limiting factor can actually be a source of inspiration. Chose one... small size, simple subject, limited palette, a textured surface or an unusual background color, a complete lack of detail, very limited light, a series of the same view, doing only trees, or only roads...

Of course, as long as you're THINKING about painting, (shapes, movement, negative space, patterns, colors and the way they interact with each other and with light & shadow, mood...) you're still on your mission.

Art Class

2007-05-16T11:50:00.001-06:00

We did a demo at the Jerry's Artarama store on South Broadway in Denver (Englewood, to be precise) a few weeks ago. They're thinking of offering classes in their large basement area. One of their employees actually used to be an art teacher in the public schools, and when she said that no one visited her classroom on parent's night, it reminded me of the movie Freedom Writers. I don't mean to make a comparison, but it does seem like art classes have been separated from the mainstream.

In their newsletter that day at Jerry's, I read about a recent experiment in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Students who participated in art activities at the museum performed better in all their other classes as well.

Maybe we need to create "stealth" art classes, to get past the idea that it's just a frill... call it visual development, creative skills, effective perception, observation resources, cognitive rebalancing...

Whatever it takes to regain its rightful place in the schools.

Winston Churchill, guerrilla painter

2007-04-12T20:12:00.001-06:00

Winston Churchill, even before World War II, seems to have understood the difference between the right & left side of the brain. In his essay "Painting as a Pastime," (which has been published as a book, he says that one can relieve mental strain by taking up a discipline that uses entirely different "mental muscles" from the one that are overused. There's an amusing description of his first time out:

"So very gingerly I mixed a little blue paint on the palette with a very small brush, and then with infinite precaution made a mark about as big as a bean upon the affronted snow-white shield. At that moment the loud approaching sound of a motor-car was heard in the drive. From this chariot there stepped swiftly and lightly none other than the gifted wife of Sir John Lavery. 'Painting! But what are you hesitating about? Let me have a brush - the big one.' Splash into the turpentine, wallop into the blue and the white, frantic flourish on the palette - clean no longer - and then several large, fierce strokes and slashes of blue on the absolutely cowering canvas. Anyone could see that it could not hit back... I have never felt any awe of a canvas since."

He chanced upon some painters on the coast of France who were disciples of Cezanne, who painted the luminous sea with multiple separate spots of pure color. To them, the subject matter was the light itself. Later, he saw a painting by Cezanne of a blank wall of a house, and it made him look anew on everyday scenes in his life. A refreshing pastime, indeed. "You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."

Make your own paint?

2007-03-28T21:22:00.001-06:00

As if we didn't already have enough on our "to do" list, now we can make our own paint.
(There's also a website that shows you how to make your own chocolate, but we won't go there)
For artists who want to know more about how their materials are made and where they come from, paintmaking.com is a valuable resource. It tells you the pros & cons (“There are lots of reasons to make paint, and plenty of reasons not to.”) It might be helpful to understand more about your materials; maybe it will lead to new ease and confidence in your work or even to renewed inspiration. Maybe there are certain colors you want that can be mixed in volume from your own recipes. You can save money, especially if you're using the less expensive pigments. Of course, this all takes time to learn as well as to make, and maybe you would rather just do the painting. And it can be a boring job (lots of mixing).

There is a long list of FAQs and web resources, along with information about all different media – acrylics, tempera, watercolor & gouache, oils & alkyds, encaustic & fresco as well as chalks. There are tools, supplies, ingredients and binders. There is even a “History” page, starting with prehistory and going through Egypt, Greece and on up to the 20th century. And there is information about safety as well.

Mindfulness

2007-03-18T16:30:00.001-06:00

I think of painting as (among other things) a way to practice mindfulness.

“Mindfulness” is a misleading word in a way, because it doesn’t really refer to your mind. “Mind” can be a verb, as in “Mind your manners,” “Mind the step,” or “Never mind.” It means to pay attention. Not by using your mind, the analytical & critical function of the brain, and not by using the “autopilot” mind that gets us through routine tasks, or by using the fear-based, reactive mechanism that’s a deep part of our survival mode. Pure attention is a very different animal. It lets us see things that our “autopilot” mind usually deletes, and it re-evaluates things that our critical mind usually dismisses or denigrates.

It’s an important function, because our attention is the creative part of our self. It’s the “lead dog” that takes us, our sled and everything we've packed on it along wherever it goes.

Painting or sketching from life puts you in conscious communication with this lead dog, and it helps you decide what you’ll pay attention to. It can overcome our natural “confirmation bias” that lets us see only what we expect to see. Painting or sketching outdoors allows you comprehend a vaster scale of things than you usually think of in everyday life. Or maybe you notice that small things can be significant, even if most people never notice them. It can bring to the fore concepts, connections and connotations that often get trodden underfoot. This can affect your whole life in a major way.

It’s valuable for you and this lead dog to get in touch, to get in the habit of spending time quietly paying attention, sniffing the breeze, noticing relationship & proportion, looking and listening.

David Hockney Plein-Air

2007-03-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

This is a page about a current exhibit of David Hockney's East Yorkshire landscapes at the L.A. Louver Gallery in Venice, California. There's a photo of him doing plein-air painting on SIX large canvases at once (to form a single painting). Now, that's encouraging. If he can paint six large canvases on location (at one time), how hard can it be to do one small one?

It's interesting that he doesn't use photography at all, even as a partial reference. He says the camera sees geometrically, but human beings see psychologically, which includes all of our perceptions, memories and feelings.

youtube

2007-02-26T20:55:00.001-07:00

It seems youtube.com has recently fixed a glitch. I used to always get the error message, "You have javascript turned off... need to download the latest..." Even after I'd checked & downloaded everything. But somehow it seems to be working now.

In addition to all your favorite music, interviews and funny pet videos, there are instructional videos such as how to paint.

Here is a good one by Larry Seiler.

Routine Magic

2007-02-13T10:57:00.001-07:00

Poor old Lucky, our retired cowpony, the last of the ranch string, stopped eating a few weeks ago. The next morning he was down & couldn't get back up. His eyes were tracking back & forth, so I think he had some kind of neurological degeneration. Carl had gone to the airport to get someone that morning, so it was several hours before he could make a trip up here to shoot the old guy. Sad to lose a beautiful friend; we all miss him. Carl took his body up to "bone hill," and I tied a redtail hawk feather to his mane. I invited a friend who learned ceremony from the Indians to come & do one for Lucky on a weekend when Carl's grandson Sacha was here. When she took out her feather-fan, there was a feather that had come loose somehow & was lying on top. She gave it to Sacha, saying it was for him from Lucky. That was a redtail feather as well...

Sometimes I hesitate to learn too much about painting for fear the magic will go away. But then I remember what Michael Cardew said in Pioneer Pottery: "The artist today must be conscious of what he is doing. Yet the inner springs of art are always unconscious. There is a natural apprehension that if one starts meddling with these and brings them out into the open, they may dry up and the shoots may wither. But it is an apprehension that must be overcome, since all mental and moral progress in the past has required the enlarging of consciousness and the widening of its field, and has been the direct result of that enlargement. However much we may enlarge our consciousness, the underlying fund of the unconscious always remains untouched, and seems in fact to be inexhaustible."

Painting is a means of combining the material & spiritual realms, and if we focus on composition, value, edges, proportion and other analytical concepts, it doesn't mean we have to let the spirit escape. It's always there, and if we honor it, the magic will be there too.

In fact, inspiration and routine work together very well. Keep a notebook open to a blank page, set aside a few minutes a day for reverie, invite the "right brain" in by playing music, make personal acquaintences among the elements of water, fire, earth, air and their various permutations (clouds, clay, incense, you name it). Eventually, meaning will walk up & greet you.

A New Definition of "Useful"

2007-01-07T19:38:00.001-07:00

Jane Herold is a potter who produces beautiful wood-fired pottery. Everything is made to be used, to become part of someone's everyday life. She's written an article entitled "A New Definition of 'Useful'" that discusses the seeming paradox of carrying on a thousand-year-old tradition into the 21st century, and I think it could easily be used to explain why painting outdoors is useful, too.

At first glance, hand-made pottery (especially wood-fired pottery) and plein-air painting might be dismissed as anachronistic hobbies, but Jane explains that if everyday cups, bowls & dishes are lively enough, each having their own unique character, they make you stop & take notice. Their purpose is to generate caring. You might have all the modern conveniences (?) and yet go through your days without being aware of your surroundings, interactions, feelings, your very life itself.

"Being indifferent, unconscious, unawake is not something that you can turn on and off at will. We must either find ways of living that encourage awareness or face a loss of sensibility that is likely to seep into all areas of our lives."

And painting from life is certainly one of the best ways to encourage awareness.

Imagination

2006-11-24T11:45:00.001-07:00

This is a watercolor by Jeanne Carbonetti, not your usual landscape. Who knows if it was done from life, it's more about the process & the qualities of the paint & paper than about a specific place & time.

I've been doing some studio paintings myself lately, imaginative "mandalas" with images that are significant for the people I'm doing them for. It's fun to create our own world, free from the laws of gravity & proportion, to make the invisible visible. It's possible to do this even when you're sitting outside & painting what's in front of you, but it doesn't come that easily for me. It's like thinking in two different languages...you have to make an effort to go from one mode to the other & back again.

I know it's true that painting from life will strengthen our studio work, and I suspect that the reverse is also the case. "What if the sky were coral-colored? What if that tree were in the foreground? Shall I add some contrasting texture here? There might be a storm blowing in..." It certainly enhances our awareness of all the things we notice around us, and it's *fun*

Freedom

2006-10-17T11:56:00.001-06:00

When I visited a friend recently, I found her upset because she'd just discovered a garter snake caught on a "sticky-trap" that she'd put out for mice on her patio. It was really caught, she couldn't get it off, and it looked like the skin under the snake's chin might tear if she kept trying. We took the poor thing to the Humane Society, which has a specialist in wildlife rescue. He removed the trap with cooking oil (good to know) and we brought the snake back with us. Snakes do eat mice, after all.

This whole time, I was wondering if the snake was injured, because it wasn't moving very much, even though only its head & a few inches were caught on the trap. She set it down on the patio, and I was amazed to see it come to life - zzzzzzzzzip - it took off. It was suddenly powerful & graceful.

I wonder if the reason our sketching & painting isn't always powerful & graceful is due to our being caught on something... expectation (our own or someone else's), conventional ideas, fear, left-brain thinking, the inner critic...(fill in the blank).

In one of Jeanne Carbonetti's books, she says, "There's no way you can fail." if you're responding to the painting as it is evolving. There's no need to be fast, just be free.

Jim Messina

2006-09-18T21:45:00.001-06:00

I was reading an interview with Jim Messina the other day and found out that he’s one of many celebs who enjoy painting (others being Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, Jane Seymour, Donna Summer, Tony Bennett, Jennifer Aniston, Michelle Pfeiffer...)

He said that it helped him look at his music differently when it came time to mix it in the studio (hmmm...it even *sounds* like the same process).

“A hot color might be something with a lot of high end on it, and a cool color might be ‘bassier,’ so to speak. Learning the perspective and how to create the illusion that something is further away from something, while another item is further away than that, and there has to be an object in there that gives you that reading where your eye sees it and sees the illusion – and the same is true with music. There has to be something in there that tells you that’s ‘distance’ and this is ‘up front.’"

I've always known that painting lets you see things differently, and I guess it lets you hear things differently as well!

Art

2006-09-03T22:06:00.001-06:00

One of the things I love the most about the guerrilla painter is how profound his off-the-cuff replies sometimes are. Last week I mentioned to him a story I’d heard on NPR about how Jan Brueghel collaborated with Rubens, one painting the landscape and the other the figures. It seems the art market in 16th century Belgium was so lively that artists arranged themselves into assembly lines, each contributing what he did best. Carl’s comment was, “Back then, art wasn’t Art.”

That got me thinking, “Who defines what 'Art' is, anyway?"
Is it the establishment? Whatever is seen in the context of museums, galleries, schools and publishers?
Is it the investors, the collectors, the critics?
Is it the person who views the work?
Is it the artist him/herself?
Is Art anything that’s done for the sake of pure expression rather than for commercial or practical purposes?

We have more artists today that ever before, as well as more techniques & materials, not to mention more history to refer to.

Art mirrors so many different values: innovation, emotion, skill, color, human form, religious truths, patriotism, irony...

Maybe trying to define it is just a trap, something that gets in the way of creating, appreciating, communicating, practicing & playing.

Back to the drawing board

2006-08-11T10:39:00.001-06:00

Betty Edwards uses drawing not just to sketch or create works of art but also as a mode of thinking. It accesses the "right side of the brain," where things are not bound by logic, facts, past experiences or words.

She compares it to learning to read & write... you may be able to speak fluently, but if you don't read or write, your thinking is comparatively limited. Most people can see quite well, but if they don't draw, there's a lot they don't notice. Drawing on a regular basis can expand your awareness.

Sad to think that in some places art classes are being removed from schools. Perception, proportion, relationship, patterns, construction, point of view, "negative space" (the space around the problem...context) & wholeness are useful concepts to think with.

Darkness & Light

2006-07-22T11:57:00.001-06:00

Regardless of its other advantages or disadvantages, watercolor canvas definitely makes it easy to play around with value. You can use thick, dark paint without fear. You can make it lighter, if you need to, and lighter still until it's almost gone. Recently I was using a sandstone-red alongside a sagebrush-green, and when they blended they made a particularly nasty-looking dark grey-green. No problemo! I lightened it, then I lightened it some more, and a little more. It actually turned into a very nice tan. "How Buddhist," I thought. "All anything really needs is a little more light."

And then there's the "problem" (why are aesthetic questions always "problems"?) of balancing darkness & light in your composition... if you're using watercolor on canvas, you can go back & "fix" things forever as long as you haven't varnished it.

The things you find when you surf...

2006-06-23T14:28:00.002-06:00

Here's an interesting site I came across yesterday while web-surfing, following "the lynx trail" through cyberspace. When I first got a computer, I would do this for hours at a time, amazed at all the info that was available. This is another informative site, this time about watercolors. And Painterskeys is an informative newsletter for painters sent out twice a week by Robert Genn (the replies are often as good as the article itself).

Of course, just doing it is the main thing when it comes to painting outdoors, but sometimes a little information can prime the pump to get you started. Like skiing, horseback riding and making pottery, it's at least 90% practice, but it helps if you know what to practice.

Watercolor Canvas

2006-06-08T17:58:00.000-06:00

Watercolor canvas is the new kid on the block, and we're looking it over. It requires different techniques from the way you paint on paper, and there are e-books and DVDs arriving to tell about it. Here is a link to an e-book that is in the works. The advantage is that you can make changes, lifting or wiping away areas with a brush, paper towel or sponge. It's not as absorbent as paper, so it's important to let each layer dry before painting over it. Even then, the paint will lift unless you to a quick once-over-lightly for the second coat. Some people prefer to add guache to get better coverage, or to add acrylic gel medium for the top layers (this would of course be permanent). The canvas texture seems a bit coarse for portrait painting, as the color sinks into the weave. On the plus side, it's fun to have the grid of the canvas to guide verticle or horizontal lines, and the texture acts almost like pixels, so you can add tiny dots to make subtle changes of color or value. It's also fun to be able to push the paint around until it looks right. The real key is using *fresh* paint, and don't be afraid to make it bright or very dark, since it's easy to lift it out. A final coat (or two) of acrylic varnish makes a durable, permanent surface that can then be framed without glass.

The Immortal Sargent

2006-04-30T21:44:00.002-06:00

Does this make you think of John Singer Sargent? Me neither.

We were in Boston recently, and we were surprised to see the Sargent murals. I didn't know he'd done any murals, but there were many of them. They were commissioned by the Boston Public Library and Museum of Fine Arts in the last two decades of his life.

Of course, he was renowned for his portraits, landscapes and figurative works in an impressionist style, but he wasn't satisfied with that. He was glad to have the opportunity to do murals, because he wanted to be remembered for more "serious" subjects. He chose biblical scenes for the murals (here's another link).

I guess we never can tell what we'll be remembered for.

Country mouse

2006-04-11T09:59:00.001-06:00

There's an organization of French plein-air painters called
Les Rats des Champs, which, loosely translated, means "Field Mice." What a great name. And some of them are coming to Colorado this month.

I was just thinking about how playfulness is a cornerstone of creativity (if creativity *has* cornerstones). Sometimes it helps if you don't take things too seriously.

Experimentation, imagination, letting go of expectation, these are the things that will put you in the zone and make painting easier.

It doesn't have anything to do with a certain style. You can do illustration, traditional Chinese painting, tonalism, whatever, and still add a light-hearted touch.

When we were in Lima, Peru, we went to the movies. We saw "Fun With Dick & Jane" and also the trailer for "Valiant," the animated pidgeon movie, and I said to the Guerrilla Painter, "You know, if anything is going to redeem the United States these days in the eyes of the world, it's this. THIS makes me proud to be from the U.S."

The Waiting Game

2006-03-19T15:23:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia, and I was often thankful for the ability to look at things with the eye of a painter. Not just in noticing the beauty of new surroundings, but also as something to do while waiting. When you travel, you spend a lot of time waiting ~ in airports, in restaurants, in shops, in friends' houses, or standing in line. Waiting for transportation, for people, waiting to be waited on. It's a lot more fun if you switch into Guerrilla Painter mode and start composing a painting. In a cityscape, which is where we were most of the time, this becomes an exercise in abstract patterns of color, shape & value. I noticed how black can actually have a cheerful face. A big piece of luggage shaped like a drawstring bag or a door with fancy relief decoration (accented with white dust) can make you smile. On the other hand, who would have thought that blue -true blue- might look ominous, intimidating? If it's a tall, narrow wooden door with angular panels & rigid lines, it can give you pause.

This kind of awareness might actually become easier if there's a language barrier between you & the people around you. Shift into the "common language" of art.

Local color

2006-02-23T08:02:00.001-07:00

Pam Furumo is another colorist who's not afraid to "push" hues to a higher intensity.

Much as I've thought about it, I still wonder how they "see" those colors. One suggestion that might be helpful is, "Squint for value, OPEN WIDE for color."

And if you're using watercolor, you really need to make it *brighter* than you think, because the color fades a bit as it dries. This is where straight-from-the-tube watercolor paint really helps.

One trick that makes color seem bright, while still keeping a reasonable semblance of reality, is to contrast areas of neutral tans or grays with a small area that sings more loudly.

Juxtaposition of complementary colors is another good technique for jacking up the drama of a passage that you want to emphasize.

Sometimes a partially-mixed combination of related colors can convey a more vibrant effect than a perfectly-mixed hue.

This quality of moody light & color is where plein-air painting really comes into its own. When you are "on-the-spot," you notice depth, contrast, shimmer, reflection and intensity that just isn't there in a photo or even in your imagination.

Realism, Part Two (What's real?)

2006-02-06T21:39:00.005-07:00

In contrast to Vermeer (previous post), Charles Camoin was a charter member of the Fauves, who believed in expressive color. This is his view of Le Pont des Arts (1904). Another, contemporary, example of a free-spirited colorist would be Natalie Goldberg. She says that color is like a metaphore, to get your attention and describe the feeling connected to what you're seeing. When she did a painting of a friend's adobe house, she chose an expressive shade of deep blue-violet. "It was as though that blue paint were a sword slashing through illusion, bringing me into direct contact with the house's essence." She paints from life, but uses the colors in her mind's eye.

This process reminds me of the new breed of economists who are looking at the big picture to calculate a more comprehensive "bottom line." They take more factors into consideration. Is this opperation sustainable, is it fair to workers, what are the enviromental impacts? All this is part of the ballance sheet. A larger, more complete, multi-dimensional picture.

Our whole experience on site is part of the "bottom line" of the painting.

Photographic accuracy

2006-01-12T14:58:00.001-07:00

Using a digi-cam and photoshop, anyone can create a "painting" (or a "pastel," or a "pencil drawing") and print it out.

There are also businesses who will do it for you, either on paper or artist's canvas, to create a paint-by-number kit of any chosen photo.

This is nothing new, really. The "camera obscura" (literally "dark room," a primitive sort of overhead projector) has been used since the Renaissance to help artists render correct perspective & proportion. Leonardo da Vinci and Vermeer, among others, might have used one.

Many painters today, too, produce works that, viewed from a distance, look photographic.
It is impressive to see an acurate rendering. We're tempted to assign importance to what "looks real," to see it as fact, to call it genuine & true as opposed to something fanciful and imaginary. If it looks real, it must be serious, substantial & consequential.

But maybe our visual perspective isn't the last word. Maybe the invisible plays a part, a crucial part, in things. Maybe movement, breath, energy, feelings, sounds, things you can't really see, are important, too. Maybe certain colors, lines, rhythms, shapes, darks & lights, can be meaningful, stirring, even if they're not literally representative.

What a concept

2005-12-22T18:29:00.001-07:00

If you google "creativity coaching" you'll bring up more than 24,000 pages.

"Coaching" is a concept that originated in the corporate world of human resources, team building & leadership, and has developed a wider application in the realms of personal growth, job transition or new venture startup, & creativity.

Of course, many artists hum along very well on their own, finding their muse and their audience, never missing a beat. But there are critical phases (new beginnings, transitions, inquiry) where a coach can help things along more effectively than a new class, a gallery, a cohort or counselor.
A coach's only agenda is your progress, your discoveries, your decisions, your goals and your clear sailing towards them. They home in on your most heartfelt ambition and say things like, "Let's take a closer look at this thought that's stopping you," or, "What if we did some laser surgery on these obstacles in your way?" or "What would it look like if you were to think really, really big?" and "How can we manage the anxiety this will cause?" They challenge you, provide tech support & feedback, and leave you completely in charge.

I think coaching is well-suited to artists and other creative people because there's never an "off the shelf" solution. Each session is tailor-made to your own circumstances.

Comadre Coaching is the website of Nancy Marmolejo, who's fun, breezy & well-educated at the same time. She coaches women.
Eric Maisel is a well-known coach and author of books on creativity coaching.

Friendly Chaos

2005-12-03T21:09:00.001-07:00

This notion is a direct affront to the German & Swiss DNA that I have, but it's true that chaos is always there, lurking just beneath the surface, so we might as well make friends with it.

When you think about it, isn't chaos the wellspring for all our bold, mysteriously beautiful creations?

Granted, a finished painting is usually considered to be the antithesis of chaos. Composition, color scheme, perspective, proportion, you know the drill. Trouble is, after you've worked hard to get all of those things right, you might still have a spiritless painting. Very pat. The kind of painting where you look at it once and say, "Wow, that's really good," and walk away, dismissing it from your mind & memory.

Watercolor has a special affinity for chaos. It tempts you to improvise.

Pick up a wild card, give a nod to the personal, unverifiable and unpredictable. Designate a "Chaos Appreciation Day" (or two, or more).

Here's something fun

2005-11-27T21:31:00.002-07:00

Here's a link to an artist's statement that is a work of art in itself.
My friend Diane Findley has always done wonderful painting and pottery.

Even the paintings that she does "on-the-spot" are fanciful and overflowing with enthusiasm.

Planet Vibes

2005-11-16T12:46:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday we watched Can Animals Predict Disaster? on PBS.

When the tsunami hit Thailand & Sri Lanka last December, the only animals who died in the huge wave were the ones who were caged or chained. All the wildlife, including nocturnal bats, fled to higher ground, and chained elephants broke free. One man's life was saved when his dogs refused to go for their usual run on the beach that morning.

This phenomenon can be explained partly by the acute hearing that many animals are blessed with, and partly by the fact that many can sense "infrasound," low-frequency sound waves that can travel vast distances through water, earth or air.

It's well known that elephants in Africa will "freeze" with their trunks touching the ground, "listening". Their feet & trunks are sensitive to vibrations, and their awareness can extend to events up to 25 miles away. Predators like lions also have many nerve endings in their feet (Hmmm...maybe reflexologists know something about this.)

What does this have to do with painting outdoors? Like the elephants, we pay attention. We spend time in the open air observing the light, the weather, the colors and how they interact. The most important part of any painting is the quality and scope of our awareness, and the way we create meaning out of it.

When we go painting, our life isn't on the line, but it might feel like it sometimes!

Muses & critics

2005-10-24T21:10:00.001-06:00

It’s all very well to proclaim (as in the previous post) that you don’t care what the critics say. But what standards *do* you have, what about the inner critic, or the people whose opinion you really do value? I asked the Guerrilla Painter what criteria he used to judge if a painting was successful, and he said, “Like the Supreme Court, I know it when I see it.” This reminded me of the wonderful book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It revolves around the Socratic question: “And what is good, Phaedrus, and what is not good – need we ask anyone to tell us these things?”

In the case of Giovanna Morganti (mentioned below), she follows the age-old tenets (decant only when necessary, keep the cellar clean, start with beautiful grapes, and taste often). In painting, there are tried-and-true techniques to practice as well. But who knows where our muse will take us? We have to follow, if we want to make our own paintings and not someone else's. Maybe your painting is good because your eye is like no other in discerning the mood of a scene. Maybe your brush can describe a lively energy, a graceful passage, a poignant combination of colors, a rich soulfullness or eloquent simplicity. Or, maybe the painting was fun to do or captured a memory for you, or was given away to someone, or taught you something about yourself or the world. Politely tell the critic (inner or otherwise) that "I appreciate your concern, but I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for the...(fill in the blank. For the practice, for the fun of it, for the blue herons, for the stars.)".

When I was starting out in college, getting serious about art, I read an interview with Bob Dylan where he said he didn’t have time to read what people wrote about him. At the time, I thought it strange, because I was involved in the left-brain study of ideas, opinions, philosophies,styles & techniques. Why wouldn't you participate in that? But it’s so true that the muses live in a completely different universe from the critics.

My sentiments exactly!

2005-10-16T15:43:00.001-06:00

Did you hear the spot on NPR this morning by Sylvia Poggioli about traditional Italian wines? Reminded me so much of why we paint outdoors.

There is an untranslatable French word, "terroir," which means not just territory (they have another word for that) but the whole combination of soil, climate, and the work of the farmer. The synthesis of these three things produces something unique to a certain place & time.

Italy, of course, has a centuries-old tradition of winemaking. The past few decades, though, have seen winemakers in Italy catering to American wine critics, who determine the value of wines in this new global economy. The trend is toward "designer wines" and "individual works of art" with invented names, created for the American palate. What does this remind me of?

Enter the "Joan of Arc of wine," a woman named Giovanna Morganti, who is doing it the old way with traditional grapes. Here is a direct quote: "I don't send my wine to the big American critics; I don't care about their ratings; I don't want them to write about my wine."

Just insert "paintings" for "wine," and you have the perfect manifesto for a Guerrilla Painter.

Family Portrait

2005-10-06T15:29:00.000-06:00

Greetings, plein-air painters. Lady guerrilla here,

2005-08-29T16:44:00.000-06:00

I'm interested in unconventional, non-competitive uses of painting. You might call it amateur painting, but only in the best sense of the word - doing something for the love of it. Dream-driven. This might include such things as:
~ painting as journaling; making a record of the season, a certain place, or a trip.
~ therapy for stress & overwork (what's that, you may ask...)
~ learning about the world by paying special attention to colors, shadows, proportion, etc. in whatever environment you might find yourself.
~ celebration, when you find yourself witnessing a unique event or creature, slant of light, color combination, etc.
~ playfulness or expressiveness (sometimes you just need to let loose) This might include painting on the walls, woodwork or furniture. What the heck.
~ how can you study the cause-and-effect that takes place on your palette & panel and NOT have insight into everyday interactions...?
This blog will cover the wide territory of painting outdoors (or on-site, wherever you might be). You may send questions & comments to my compatriot: sarah@phantomcanyonranch.com