Starting the New Year Off With Daily Painting!
Starting tomorrow (I know I know… late notice! But better almost-late than never!), I’ll be facilitating a simple, facilitated daily painting challenge in my free Facebook group- From Photo to Final Painting. I’ll be painting squares again. I’d like to invite you to come and participate to the best of your abilities… and availability. If you’re curious, keep reading!
Basic Questions-
Are there rules? No. LOL.
Is it free? Yes!
Do you have to paint squares too? Nope, but I suggest you give it a try.
Do you have to paint every day? Only if you want to.
Will I be helping you along the way? Yep! But more on that below.
Got any advice? Yep! More on that below too.
Do I have to be a member of the Facebook group to participate? Yes.
What’s the link to your Facebook group? https://www.facebook.com/groups/1060849701261692
How much time should it take daily? My goal is to do a painting in an hour max
What’s the Setup?
Honestly, I intended to do the Strada Easel challenge, but the truth is that it’s hard for me logistically, as I’m sure it is for many of you. I run a business and I’m raising a kid— which makes me an honorary chauffeur! LOL. My schedule is dynamic and varied. Some days I can easily do a painting, other days I’m fully booked. As such, my goal is to work from reference photos to make set up easier— although I already know a few folks will follow the standards of the Strada Easel challenge, which is awesome!
My idea is to roll things out in potentially 3 stages-
Step 1- I provide reference photos for you. Perhaps the first 3rd of the month.
Step 2- I provide reference photos for you that you really need to crop and compose. Second 3rd of the month.
Step 3- We diverge, and everyone does their own thing. That gives you 20 days to gather together 11 paintable reference photos. A humane amount of time, IMO.
If you don’t want to post in the FB group, don’t… but you’ll need to join the group to get the daily reference photos. Beyond that, there are no rules. However, if you want to share and get support and feedback, then be sure to share your work. If you’re curious to get my feedback on things, I do my best to respond to many posts, so it’s a good space to share and receive input.
My primary goal is to paint, and to share painting with others too.
Why Squares?
I’ll be painting my little square paintings again, and my advice is that you try the same. Why? There are actually a variety of reasons.
1) When we compose for a square, it forces us to choose. Students often include a variety of additional material that isn’t actually necessary. I find painting squares helps people see what isn’t necessary, because they almost always have to crop their reference photos to make it fit the format.
2) Painting smaller makes painting daily more achievable. Yes, there’s some waste when we cut paper down to squares, but I find it gets us to use smaller pieces, and that means a higher rate of success for daily painting. I’ll be painting either 8”x8” or 7.5”x 7.5”. I wouldn’t go bigger than that unless you’ve got a lot of time and/or are an experienced painter. A little 5”x 5” painting is very achievable in an hour!
3) Painting smaller makes us simplify.
4) Squares are an uncommon format for many people, and they help you to pay attention.
I hope to see some of you in From Photo to Final Painting over the course of this coming week. Here’s the link to the Facebook group again-
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1060849701261692