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| “Monhegan Beach” 12” x 16” Pastel $200 © Sharon LewisClick Here to Purchase |
I had originally
decided not to take the 3-day Liz Haywood-Sullivan workshop this May because even
though I really admire her work (see http://www.haywood-sullivan.com/pastel/index.html),
the only session I could take would mean that I really wouldn’t have a day off
for weeks. Given the stress and lack of sleep caused by end-of-the-semester
grading I thought that I could use a break. Fortunately I changed my mind because
not surprisingly, I learned a lot from the workshop.
The
workshop focused on painting skies, clouds, and water, which I really enjoy but
what was probably most helpful to me was how Liz emphasizes the great
importance of basic drawing skills and gave us some useful tips for how not to
lose the compositional design that I liked in my reference photo even when I
transferred that design to a much larger canvas.
So, what
does this have to do with jumping off the high dive? Well, it’s because a
typical workshop starts out with a well-known, very good artist, demonstrating
how she/he paints which usually wows us all. Then this very talented person
turns to us and says, “Now it’s your turn.” This is the part that makes most of
us feel like someone has just said jump off this really scary, really high dive.
We all set up at our easels and must then very publicly demonstrate our own
skills…or lack thereof. It’s not supposed to be a competition but everyone’s
different levels of skills and experience very quickly become apparent. It’s a
little scary to me and I often wonder why I keep doing this to myself. I think
the answer is that I know that if I truly want to be a better artist I have to
have these learning experiences which means risking looking like an idiot
jumping off that high dive but always with the faith that you will not really
drown and maybe just maybe, you will make a beautiful, truly amazing splash.
Have a good
week!
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