Painting without a net

OK, maybe not painting without an actual net. It's not like painting is that dangerous. More like painting without a plan, painting without a drawing. Playing with color and shape and layering paints but not doing a big "painting." That's what I did on Friday night, because I didn't feel like drawing more of the "painting" I had planned and had started to draw. I just wanted to play with some color and see what I could come up with.

I came up with a lot of things I didn't like. But this is just play, right? So I kept playing. And eventually painted this cup, which I did like. I liked the colors and the brushstrokey-ness of it (is that a real word?). When I paint from a photo and a drawing, I feel like I am too precise, too linear. Yeah, people seem to like it but I'm not convinced that's what I want in painting. I like the paintings where you can see the brushtrokes and the paint clumps and know it is a painting!

So, for the last day I've been wanting to paint more tea cups. Play around with what I had learned Friday night. Paint some more without a drawing. Let myself be brushstrokey and see what emerges. I put a tea cup in the window and started to paint. OK, this was not as bright of orange as I wanted. Apparently my beautiful dark red doesn't turn into a beautiful bright orange when mixed with bright yellow. So, learning something about color mixing too... try again. More the color I wanted. Still not quite so bright, more work to do there, but closer.

So, here you have my painting experience for the weekend. Thanks for joining me on this little creative journey I have going. It helps for me to type these things out and solidify the things I'm learning. Oh, and by the way, one more lesson - be sure not to drink the tea you are painting after you've accidentally cleaned your brush in it! Maybe there is something dangerous about painting after all...