The Creative Life - Barbara Trovillo

I haven't posted since July! I'm sorry. I was mourning my puppy but I am back to work now.

I wanted to talk a bit about loosening up. You would think it would be easy to let go.  Just .... let go.  

It is hard to let go of old patterns. I began my adventures in art carefully replicating whatever it was I was looking at, exactly as I saw it. The artwork that excited me most, though, was that which was done by the Impressionists. Dabs of color making suggestions. I found this way of working liberating, creating gestural marks that allow the imagination to fill in the gaps. I continue to experiment with new techniques.

In this last painting, I used a squeegee to gently smear the paint after I painted in the images. The blurred edges were interesting and pleasing. I worked hard on this piece to keep it loose and easy.  I do have some new tools to play with: R & F pigment sticks and new Rosemary brushes. The new brushes helped greatly, with the petals especially. I am just getting acquainted with what all they can do.

This is a new phase in the work committed to LOOSENING UP and LETTING GO! At the same time, I am working on composition. Recently when rejected by a gallery to which I was applying, they commented that my subjects are too often centered. I was not aware of this but realized it was true. So, I am trying to stay loose while applying principles of good composition, keeping the edges soft, varying the values, etc.

Like anything else, the more you know, the easier and BETTER the work becomes.

Practice, practice, practice AND KEEP IT LOOSE!

Happy creating!