Intuitive Painting
I just finished a four-day workshop on intuitive painting with the Arizona artist, Stan Kurth. Above are three of my favorite paintings that I did during the workshop.
We learned to develop paintings intuitively. Not from life, not from a plan, but by allowing an image to develop as you place marks on paper. You begin by putting down random marks with pencils, pens, crayons, markers, watercolor, gouache, acrylic paint, and so on, until you see something in all your marks that might suggest an idea. This part seemed like looking at clouds and seeing elephants or ducks. Once you see a shape, you develop the idea further with more marks, taking care to leave lots of ambiguity about its meaning. You should also think about the elements and principles of design so that the final painting is pleasing to the eye.
When I started this blog nearly four years ago, I had hoped to become able to visually convey what I saw and thought about. Although this is still a major goal for me, I would also like to be able to paint more abstractly. This workshop has been wonderful because it gave me a process for one type of abstract art. This week I will see if I can use these techniques when I am painting plein air.
Each of these mixed media paintings is 22 x 15-inches.
Deliberate Sketching 
These are amazing
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wonderful summation along with incredible work Sarah!!! I especially love the one on the right!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sheila!
LikeLike
I really like your paintings, especially the one on the right. I think that intuitive painting will open up your creativity, I have found that it carries over to your other work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Margaret, I think you are right about the impact of intuitive painting, I already see a difference.
LikeLike
I can’t wait to see more and how your creativity will evolve.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like it. Different from your usual work.
A Belgian artist named Jijé used to tell his pupils: look at the subject. DO NOT look at the paper while you are drawing. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for the encouragement and the I am more aligned with Jije´than with my instructor from last week. Interestingly, it is easier for me to paint plein air or with a model than from my heart or imagination.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is quite natural. I seldom draw or paint anymore, but I do need a model or subject. (Or memory maybe.) 🙂
LikeLike
Only just seeing these this morning … way cool!
LikeLiked by 1 person