Becoming an Artist

 As mentioned in my last post, I've signed up for Dreama Tolle Perry's Flow class. My intention with this class is to watch one of her demos and replay it while I paint along with it, recreating "her" painting. Then I plan to take what I learned in that demo and create "my" version. Eventually, I'd like to paint my version in oil, acrylics, and watercolor...trying to figure out which medium I prefer.  The first oil painting demo I chose to watch was a backlit rose in a small glass jar. I love roses, and when I ventured into oils the first time, I painted a lovely rose from my garden. This is the only painting from that era that I liked. As a side note, I have nine hybrid tea roses and four floribundas around the house. And since I'm in northern California, there are blooms on these plants for nine months out of the year! What a treat.  I really should paint these beauties more often.  I'm happy with both paintings but for different reasons. The p

My gelato oil painting from the  introduction to oils lesson in Dreama Tolle Perry's "Flow" class.   Three years ago I temporarily gave up watercolors and embarked on a oil painting journey. I had experienced a watercolor meltdown (yes, it's a thing) during a plein air vacation, so I spent the last day watching a fellow painter render a scene in oils. WHOA, oils are so much more forgiving than watercolors! OK, so I bought myself some oil paints,  new gear,   read some books and dabbled a bit, then signed up for a three-day plein air oil painting class with a famous local artist. Then I promptly gave up oils. They are messy and thick, and it's impossible to pull a nice watercolor wash with them (duh). John F. Carlson  recommends in his famous landscape painting book to start your painting career with oils and to not touch watercolors for at least a year. Too bad I hadn't read that ten years ago. And John Singer Sargent said that to paint watercolors is to "