Do you find it difficult to be loose in your art? I do (a lot).
A few weeks ago I was painting and I started to feel like all of my characters were looking too perfect. You know, like the woman’s eyes and face looked pasted on and she just didn’t flow. There was no freedom or whimsy.
I’d been trying lots of new techniques and characters. That always stops me from letting go.
But if I don’t take that risk and just go for it, my artwork stays frozen in that ugly stage.
So I started this painting and kept her eyes closed (she’s called ‘Emissary of Peace’ 12” x 12”).
I got stuck with her colors.
I’d been painting all of these pieces with dark backgrounds the last few weeks and I wanted to lighten things up. I wanted to go crazy with color, but I wasn’t allowing myself to go there.
Since this woman had her eyes closed, it was the perfect place to start.
I let myself get wild with rainbows. It all opened up a new kind of joy inside of me with no right or wrong.
It always takes making beautiful mistakes and happy accidents to get to the good stuff. It doesn’t just happen right away. I have to experiment, paint something completely imperfect, then keep following my joy and doing more of what I love ❤️
If you’ve been wanting to paint together, but feel like you don’t have a lot of time, I’ve put together my self-paced, Happy Painting mini course, which has five instant-access projects. This online workshop is perfect for beginners or anyone looking to feel more connected and creative.
In this video preview you’ll see how I create a portrait using just a few supplies in my sketchbook. This is a project you can do in just a few minutes, so you can still paint, even if you don’t have a lot of space or time.
Click here for more details about Happy Painting.
“You’ve really inspired me in the VERY FUN CLASS of Happy Painting. I’ve gone from cut and paste to fearless, throwing paint on paper and actually painting and trusting in the process. I’ve been actually creating little beings.” -Nancy Rose
Happy Painting!
xo Juliette Crane
P.S. Want to watch a painting from start to finish? I’ve posted a fun owl painting project from my Whimsical Animals class here on my blog.
To get started, you can also try this quick project in your sketchbook.