Palette management

[Mike McCarty]

Now I'm scheming to build a really big hand held palette

You just can't seem to shake that lawyer thing.

Yunno, there are so many things that I do that I have never thought about. Like the thing you mention:

There's something wonderfully freeing about being able to walk around with all your paints right in your line of vision. When I used my big table easel I used to look down at it to mix the colors and then back up at the painting. I think it somehow broke up whatever good-flow mental state I had worked up

I have a small palette but I tend to leave it on the taboret, looking up, down, up. That makes a lot of sense to be able to hold your paint near your line of sight, and a simple thing to try. Do you always paint standing up?

By the way, if you play music when you paint, your palette becomes your dance partner, but if you let it lead all the paint ends up on your chest.

For the most part I've tried to avoid dancing altogether. We Southern Baptists know full well where that leads. When faced with the prospect, I just claim to be a professional dancer on vacation.

And while we're on the subject of dancing, I understand that in these painting workshops it is customary to have one instructor with multiple students. I'm wondering if it really has to be that way.

I thought if I came to Arizona, I could sign up for a Linda Brandon/Chris Saper workshop just for myself. I know most of you are thinking I'm being greedy, but what can I say?

[Linda Brandon]

Mike,

The lawyer thing to do here is to scheme to get somebody else to build my big palette for me.

Do you paint those wonderful paintings sitting down? Oh, Mike! Get up and wander around. Sway from side to side if you don't have room to dance. Turn up the volume of whatever you're listening to. You must find ways to increase your enjoyment in the creative process. It's not just a hand-eye coordination exercise. Creativity is much more corporeal than is commonly believed. You have got to find ways to pull yourself into wanting to come to work every day, which is the only way to get yourself good enough so that there will be a line of collectors and clients stretching into infinity.

I am working with Cynthia to get a Forum category going about the whole creative process. I worry that we lose people on the Forum when we concentrate solely on technique, or painting from photos to make clients happy. A lot of talented people just haven't gotten themselves into the ballpark because they get too discouraged on the path. (Mixed metaphor?) I read an awful lot about the creative process, about writing as well as about art, and I'm sure many others have strong opinions as well. There's a lot of wonderful comments scattered throughout this Forum already, but unless you get on every day you can miss reading posts. It'd be nice to have one place to go on the Forum to share ideas on this issue.

As you can probably tell, one of my big problems is digression, so Steven will have to come in and clean me up.

Chris and I share a very sick and lively sense of humor. I'm not sure how much actual work would get done in a joint workshop. I tell her to keep working and she tells me to keep working. All artists must have somebody who comes in, whacks you hard with a big palette, and then begs you to keep working. But that's the subject of a different thread.

Best regards,
Linda

[Mike McCarty]

Linda,

I look forward to your new category. I will admit that it takes a great deal to get me interested in the technical aspects of painting.

I'm afraid that I do paint mostly sitting down. Now I'm going to get massive points taken away. However, I rarely paint in my robe anymore, so give the points back.

I'm going to try and paint standing up with my palette in my left hand. Since I now paint in public, I may have to forgo the swaying and dancing. By the way, if I hear Liberace play "I'll be looking at the moon, but I'll be seeing you" one more time over the PA system I'm going to spit.

[Steven Sweeney]

one of my big problems is digression, so Steven will have to come in and clean me up.

A hastily arranged and, in my opinion, unnecessarily raucous plebiscite has just yielded a unanimous vote on this proposal: Be it resolved, that Sweeney's the last Forum member from whom you should seek help regarding this particular problem.

And to that point, let me just say, also, thkd;l; -__ AWKQ!

[Administrator's note: We now return you to the thread, in progress.]