30 minute study

So, as usual, January has been a tough month for me to get back into my painting.  I take so much time off during December, that I honestly start to doubt myself in January, and there's always a big scary learning curve to get back into my rhythm.  Thank goodness that I do my 30 minute studies!  I turned this one into a painting called "Letting Go..." because that's literally what I had to do, to finally get past the ugly teenage stage.  I just had to "let go" and let whatever happens, be OK.  I’ll post it later on, after I’m done judging it.  What do you do to break though your blocks?  One thing that I do is promise myself that I will paint for only one hour.  It’s hard to even go to my studio, when the artist’s block is in full force.  I even set a timer to make sure that I stay in my studio for that hour.  Usually, once I start painting, the fear goes away, and I get involved in a painting, and before I know it, my husband is home wondering what’s for supper. 



5 minute warm up

Lots of times, I do little 5x 7’s to just get my brush wet, and to loosen up.  One of my students, Anne, reminded me of a lesson that I taught last year- A simple landscape that is a great warm up exercise.  I do these in only 5 minutes!  It’s posted on the left.  If anyone is interested, I'll be featuring these on my website, http://www.karenknutson.com/ for only $25.  Hope this has been helpful to those artists out there that have the same anxiety as me, with the artist’s block.  Just go to your studio and paint for an hour.  Bet you can’t just stay there for only an hour…..

Kim Grant Workshop in Guatamala

I have a friend who is teaching a workshop in Guatamala on March 21 - 30th, 2012.  She's a great artist, and really fun to be around.  I can personally vouch for her as a great teacher.  What's not to love about spending time painting in warm climate this time of year???  Sign up soon in order to reserve your spot!  Kim's website is http://www.kimgrantdesigns.com/  Here is a description of the workshop: 
 Join Kim Grant for 10 days in beautiful Antigua,Guatemala. Find your own personal artistic expression through creative experimentation with mixed media and collage, layered on paper surfaces. Art in the morning and sightseeing in the afternoon. The total package includes tuition, lodging, transportation, and field trips for $1925. More more information go to http://artguat.org/docsclasses/classgrant.html or contact Kim at 952-445-8108

First people painting of 2012

I've been working on this painting for the last 4 days.  There are a few things that I like about it, but mostly, I'm just relieved to be done.  It was not fun to paint.  And when it comes down to it, isn't that what we're in this for.....the experience of ENJOYING the process?  It's been so long since I've worked in pure watercolor, and I needed a painting for the Transparent Watercolor of America show, so I promised myself to get one done!  I called it, "Between 2 Worlds" because I could see orbs floating around.  I used a 30 minute study for the idea for this painting. 

Goals for the New Year!

After reading Myrna Wachnov's blog this morning, I decided that I, too, must write down my goals.  Myrna's blog is one of my favorites.  She is such a gifted artist.  You, too, should check it out!  http://myrnawacknov.blogspot.com/ 

My goals for 2012 are:

1. Work on my new book

2. Do more people paintings

3. Continue my 30 minute studies every day 

4. Lead a more balanced life!

This sketch is one I did in early December when I was at a Paint-in with 3 other friends in Wisconsin.  I just let myself sketch without a plan, and as I was sketching the people, I thought how odd that I had sketched 5 people, when there were only 4 of us there at the Paint-in.  Then, in studying it further, I saw that the 3 people were separated by a fence from the other 2 people.  Now, you might think I'm off my rocker when I tell you this, but the truth was that one friend who was supposed to be at our Paint-in, actually was traveling back and forth every day, visiting her husband in the hospital, and therefore, wasn't able to participate in our Paint-in very much.  I truly had nothing in mind when I started this sketch, and look what came out of my subconscious!  I'm thinking that the 2 houses in the background must be the fact that Janice was going from our house to the hospital every day.  Wow, spooky!!! My intention is to paint from this 30 minute sketch later this month.  I'll post it when it happens.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Going down Memory Lane

As usual, I'm late in painting my Christmas card.  I've started 2 different paintings for this purpose, and didn't finish either one of them.  Then, looking through my finished paintings, I liked this painting because it reminded me of my roots.  I grew up on a ranch in Montana, and our Christmas celebrations were very simple, with handmade construction paper chains and popcorn that trimmed our tree.  Of course, the tree was a real tree.  Dad would drive us through the hills on our ranch, and we'd pick our favorite tree each year. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm going to try to keep this holiday more simple and remember the special traditions of my earlier years.  Happy Holidays to all of you! 
By the way, this painting started with charcoal sprinkled on the paper, and then pouring a big bucket of water on the charcoal to create the wonderful texture.  I'll be teaching this process at my workshop at Madeline Island on August 6 - 10, 2012.  Go to my website for details.  http://www.karenknutson.com/

Redoing Old Paintings

I belong to a critique group, called Critical Thumb Group.  We meet once per month and critique each other's paintings.  By the way, I encourage all of you to form a critique group.  It's a great way to get feedback from other artists.  A new set of eyes to challenge you to be a better artist.  Our group has 10 members, and that is the maximum that I would recommend.  This month, we were instructed to bring old paintings that we didn't like.  We all exchanged paintings, and then painted revisions, using acrylic, caran d'ache crayons, and whatever else we could find.  It was great fun, a lot of laughs and a great lesson for me.  Below is the painting that I started with.  My favorite part of the painting was the right flower section.  I liked the rhythm there.  These were colors that I usually don't use, so that was a fun challenge too.  I kept telling myself, get big simple shapes in, but my brush had other ideas.  We only worked on these for about an hour, which is hard for me, since I am typically a slow painter.  In analyzing the finished painting now, I can tell you that my brain was right.  I should have gotten the big simple shapes in there first.  Way too busy!  Tomorrow, I will show you what I do with busy paintings.  This one's not done yet! 

Two Faced Turkey

Last night, I went to the Minnesota Watercolor Society meeting, where EmmyWhite was the demonstrator.  Her demonstration was a fun, whimsical painting of turkeys who had been pardoned, and were in a shelter.  There were so many laughs as she told her thought process and basically, became a kid again.  We all need to find the kid within us when we paint, don't you think? I decided to do a turkey painting this morning in homage to Emmy.  It was so fun to play, and I can honestly say that I didn't look up turkeys before sketching this.  I went from my memory.  No surprise by the look of it, right?  It was a stretch and a big risk, but so much fun!!!!  This painting is called Two Faced Turkey.  See the 2 headed turkey in the background?   I really admire Emmy's paintings, and love that she follows her true spirit evey time she paints.  Check out Emmy's paintings at http://www.emmywhite.com/

Life is good!

I got my 30 minute study done early this morning.  I decided to do wine glasses, since I LOVE a glass of wine with supper each evening.  It's been recommended by my doctor, after my yearly physical that I drink only 3 - 5 glasses per week.  (He didn't mention how BIG that glass was supposed to be, though.....)  So, the daily routine will have to be moderated.  This sketch took about 45 minutes to do, but I was loving the illusionary effect so much that I just allowed myself to take longer than my usual 30 minutes. I'm feeling very inspired today, after spending the day yesterday with my good friend, Suz, going to 3 gallery shows. 

Don't feel like painting? Here are some suggestions.

Some days you just don't feel like painting- whether you have the moody blues, or you're scared of that white paper, or you're just procrastinating.  I have many cures for this.  Sometimes I make cards, like this one, "Red Vibrations".  I use "old dog" paintings and cut them up, add acrylic paint to brighten up the muddy colors, add embellishments, and before I know it, many hours have passed.  The best thing is that my imagination gets sparked, and suddenly, I feel like painting again.  This card has brads, price labels, grommets, and ultra thick embossing powder on it to really spice up the composition. 

Exciting workshop in August, 2012

I want to tell you about my workshop that you may want to put on your Christmas list:  

This is mainly a watercolor class, but additional media will be offered to expand the imagination of the student.  The objective of this class is to expand the imagination, simplify shapes, and create clean, glowing colors!  We’ll learn how to do 30 minute studies that will help students think in simple terms and create great designs.  Many special effects that will be offered:   working with graphite and pouring water over the paper to create great textures to begin the paintings.  Also, collage will be added to create texture.  A patchwork effect will add to the fun!  This workshop will definitely get you out of your box! (Karlyn Holman will be teaching at Madeline Island on the same weekend, a separate class, but lunches and evening meals, etc. are all together!)  To view details of my class, click here .