Don't fear your medium or your internal creativity.
I taught silk painting to 4th thru 6th grade students. I found consistently, that the students were intimidated by the silk and "ruining it". The first exercise I did with them was to have them throw their raw silk on the floor and jump up and down on it.
This loosened them up and showed them that a. the silk was quite hardy and still usable and b. there was always another pallet(silk) if that one was ruined.
When I spend in excess of $12 on one sheet of water color paper, or I have a stick of pastel in my hand that I spent $8 on, I find myself wanting to be that child, stiff and fearful of ruining my tools or wasting my supplies on unworthy/unsuccessful art.
Its only paper, it's only chalk and no art is unworthy... (besides those $12 sheets of paper are nearly indestructible).
Go boldly and jump up and down...
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Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model.
Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh
I smile big at this post. We artists, of all levels need to remind ourselves just this!
ReplyDeleteEven tho I taught it and lived it, I have to constantly remind myself. Its really a difficult lesson to embrace.
ReplyDelete