Friday, December 3, 2010

Gathering of Painters

Last night, I hosted our monthly Challenge gathering in my studio. The 10 of us bring our paintings for a discussion followed by a pot luck dinner. Since we were in my studio, I did a quick demo for the group. It's my version of Peggi Kroll Robert's Limited Stroke Lesson that I teach my students. It's a fun exercise that teaches you to plan your strokes ahead of time and once they are down, you have to leave them alone.

It takes about 15 minutes and is a challenge, trust me. 


This is how it goes:
Do a simple drawing of subject matter 
Carefully count how many strokes you will need to cover the canvas 
Pre-mix enough color to cover entire area 
Load your brush and go for it! 
The bigger the area, the bigger the brush 
Do not pick up the brush until you have covered the planned area 
Keep count your strokes
Give yourself one "Mulligan".  

2 comments:

  1. That was so fun, Nanny! I remember that exercise from Peggi's class. Carol did that, too, but I think we got 25 strokes (MUCH more reasonable!). Good exercise to kind of 'keep it simple'... Thanks!

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  2. In a watercolor class taught by Robert Fionda we were each given a small bag of M&M's and had to eat one each time we ended a stroke.
    I think I had 24.

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