My new Lens

I created a new lens on Squidoo.com today. Here's the link to it.

http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/workshop/beginning2paint#

I also copy and pasted it here if you don't want to click on the link. But....if you click on the link you can help my rankings, you can rate my lens, add a comment, etc.

WHERE DO I START?

I remember when I first started painting, I always wondered what was the secret? What am I suppose to paint first??? Do I start with the sky, you know, the background, and then work forward from there? This is for acrylic and oil. (I'm not tackling watercolor, because even though I have done some watercolor, it's like thinking backwards for me, and I am not as proficient in this medium as the other two.) So, when I paint using acrylic or oil, what do I paint first??? Well, I have learned that there is really no magic answer, no mystery to solve. Generally you can start where ever you want in the painting. And different people have different preferences. The main thing to remember, is that when painting, for the most part, you place paint next to paint, not over an already painted finished area. That was the key. This is where negative painting comes into play.

OK, SO WHAT IS NEGATIVE PAINTING???

I would read the Artist Magazine and anything else I could get my hands on, and would find the mysterious phrase, 'negative painting', but they never explained what that meant. Well, in a nut shell, negative painting is painting the area around an object. So lets say I am painting a tree. Ok, got the tree in, but what about the area around the tree and the sky holes within the tree? That's negative painting. So I can either paint the skyholes and sky first, or paint the tree first then later paint the sky and pop in some skyholes. I do it both ways. For me, it helps to have the skyholes drawn out on the canvas, so I have a plan or blueprint. Or, I am painting the bird in this painting, that's the posative painting, and everything else around it is negative painting. So it kinda switches up, depending on what you are painting. I have outlined the skyholes in this painting in fuscia. (I tried making the picture bigger in photoshop, but when I uploaded it here, it remained the same. Hmm, something else to learn.) Now there are times you do have to paint over paint, like when you put in a winter tree, small branches, blades of grass, etc.

MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE

Well, I like to get into the painting and start with the center of interest. Now, that's just what I usually prefer to do. One major reason is because I have a muscle weekness, and I need to rest my hand somewhere, so it works best for me to paint from the center of the painting out. This way I am not as likely to rest my hand on the wet painted area. I hate it when I do that. Ya, I do that...too often sometimes. I should probably mention that when painting, I turn my canvas sideways and upside down. whatever I need to do to get to that area I am working on.I know I can use a mahl stick or artists bridge, but since I don't have one, and it is way down on my priority list, this is what I do. :)

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