Permission to Paint Badly

I hadn't picked up a paint brush since my retreat nearly three weeks ago.  I can be very creative coming up with reasons that I can't take a morning to paint.  Pushing past the sniggly excuses, I gave myself permission to just have some fun with the paint today... no need to create a great work of art....just get in there and throw some paint onto a canvas. 

I found a painting that I had done a while ago that was the result of another day of  throwing some paint around and decided to use it as the background for today's little experiment.  I wasn't sure how much of the background I would want to have showing through in the new work so I used a watered down white (acrylic) paint, with damp cloth in hand to serve as my eraser.  I began to "sketch" out the subject, in this case my turquoise kettle.

Once I have what I think is a good "rough sketch", I hold up the painting in front of a mirror.  This will immediately allow me to see if anything is really off.  This is especially useful in portraits where I may have painted one eye lower than the other, for example.

detail of  sketching with white paint

When I am satisfied with the sketch I begin to fill in the subject with a light hand because I want to make sure that I don't cover too much of the background, remembering that I want it to play a role in the foreground.  It's always easy to add more paint, it's a little trickier to remove it!

I continue working with an almost dry brush technique creating layers until I have the desired effect.  I try to be sensitive to the light and shadows on the kettle, but allow myself the freedom to invent also.  I let an area of the background show through on the kettle to create interest and I used the dark background as part of the shadow below the kettle without filling it in, I just painted the lighter yellow ochre around it.

I let this sit on the easel overnight.  I am always amazed how I can be satisfied with a painting while I am working on it, only to get up the next morning, wander into the studio and wonder, "What was I thinking?" 

Such was the case with this little painting.  The next morning I found it very boring, too much of the subject just plunked there.  I gave myself permission to ruin the painting.  This is always helpful and allows me to "push" and experiment.  Playing it safe in painting is the equivalent of creative suicide. 

I block off an area of the kettle that I find the least interesting and fill it in with a white wash.  Below it is a piece of textured paper that I glue on with matt medium. This will dry transparent.

Using a spatula and lots of different colours I spread paint on the  blocked off area until I have a pattern and texture that pleases me.

I find the word "transformations" from a magazine and glue that on too.  When that dries, I smudge on some paint to help it blend into the background a little better and then wipe off the excess paint.

Now I'm really beginning to have fun and the studio is a mess (both good signs).

I glue a small shiny rock onto the painting (where a handle would be on the lid) and glue a red rectangle near the top between the two contrasting sides. This by the way picks up on and repeats a red rectangle that was in the original background (to the lower right of the kettle).

I paint around the edges of the red rectangle to suggest a door. I enjoy incorporating symbolism and words in my work.  For me the concept of transformation is a choice, we can choose to walk through the door or play it safe and remain stuck where we are.

So far I am satisfied with the painting I've done today.  Maybe tomorrow morning it will be a different story... If so, I'll just give myself permission to ruin the painting all over again!

Thank you for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life.

Sandra