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| Irish Quartet 8x10 oil on canvas panel |
Day Twenty-One, Painting Twenty
Day Twenty - Painting 19 - How Now
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| How Now 16x20 oil on canvas panel |
Day Eighteen - Sisters
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| Sisters 11x14 pastel on Rtistix board |
Day Seventeen - David Phillips
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| David Phillips 24x36 oil on canvas |
Day Sixteen - Me Sideways
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| Me Sideways |
Day Fifteen - Three Of Cups
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| Three Of Cups |
11x14 oil on canvas
This was enjoyable... Very long, but enjoyable. Sleepy... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Day Fourteen - Sue Bown
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| Sue Bown 20x16 oil on canvas |
So much work yet to be done... Her hands are just blocked in and the sweater and scarf painted in a fast, slap-dash manner. But it's 11:15 and I want to sleep a little tonight, so I'm posting it as is for now.
Day Thirteen - Phone Call
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| Phone Call |
This is 18x18 oil on canvas.
Day Twelve - Toys
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| Toys |
10x10 oil on canvas
Day Eleven - Freshen Up
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| Freshen Up |
12x16 oil on canvas.
Confession: I found the reference for this painting among images in the advance advertisement of a local estate sale. I removed offending objects and added the towel. I love the subtle color scheme and will come back to this painting later on to further develop it. Or not. I may decide to like it as it is. Tonight I started painting at about 4 p.m. and it's now 8 p.m. My earliest finish yet!
Day Ten - Lady Mary
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| Lady Mary |
I did use a Googled search for Downton Abbey to find the reference I used for this painting. I think I exaggerated the shape of her hat and her chin, but I do like this quickly done painting. It's about 12x16, I think, and oil. And it's only 11:19 p.m.!! A triumph!
Day Nine - John
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| John |
It hurts me to post this of John. He's a classy, handsome fellow and I've only had time to do a first pass, so it's pretty crude. Basic shapes are there, but all the necessary subtleties are missing as yet. This one is 11x14 on RayMar panel in oil. Probably way too large and complicated to try to do in one evening. Ok, not probably. For sure. But By Golly I'm going to post this toddler of a painting and hope it gets the chance to grow up someday.
John is a literary agent in Dublin, Ireland. His love is Janetta, a lovely artist and friend I've known since I took a workshop in Ireland in 2009. The reference photo was taken during a dinner they hosted for our other host and friend there, Jan, her husband Colm, and UK and me in September. They are all wonderful people. But, truthfully, if anyone speaks to me in an Irish accent I go all mushy and starry eyed and hope they won't ever run out of things to say. If you want to convince me of anything, say it in an Irish accent.
Day Eight - UK
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| UK |
Oh, and I take full responsibility for each and every one of those sparkling salts in her pepper. True.
Warning: If you come around here in the next few days you might find yourself in a command photoshoot. Just sayin.
Day Seven - Tangerine
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| Tangerine |
Day Six - Shelby
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| Shelby |
Day Five
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| Little One |
I'm grumpy about this one, but I've given it all the time I'm willing to give today. I really love the reference and someday I'd like to revisit it and hang on like a bulldog until I'm proud of it.
Day Four
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| Prop Shelf |
Day Three- Bedriye
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Bedriye
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Day Two - Janis
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| Janis |
Oh my, am I rusty!
My reference was a Facebook photo of my friend Janis who lives in Austin and is a wonderful pastel painter. I hope she won't regret agreeing to let me use her photo as a reference....
Day One of 30 Paintings in 30 Days
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| Maddy in April |
I needed an intervention. Painting used to be an everyday joy, but my usual mechanisms to trigger picking up a brush and squeezing out the paint have ended. I need the same assignment-and-deadline as every other artist needs, so when I saw that Leslie Saeta was initiating a new round of 30 Paintings in 30 Days, I decided to join up and use it to get my painting juices going again.
It felt good to spend my evening painting this 8x10 oil of the lovely daughter of a dear friend. 29 more paintings coming up!
Portrait Painting Workshop May 14-17, 2015
I'm offering a THREE DAY (plus one evening) PORTRAIT PAINTING WORKSHOP
AT WHISTLE STOP CORNER.
Thursday May 14, 6-9 p.m.
Friday-Saturday-Sunday May 15-16-17, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
$345. Includes Welcome Party and Demonstration Thursday evening, and lunches Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Open to artists from Beginner to Advanced, as instruction is on an individual basis. (For example, a beginner may want to focus on sharpening drawing skills, while an advanced painter may want to work on refinement of edges or building confidence in mixing skin colors and representing values- your priorities are important to me, too.)
Artists will work from photographs I will prepare. Or bring your own references, but if they aren't "worthy", we'll "discuss." If 4 or more artists wish to have a session of painting from a live model, we can do that on Sunday afternoon.
Modules of instruction will include-
Composition concerns
Drawing considerations
Seeing and representing values
Mixing color
Application of paint- options abound.
Drawing / Painting hair, clothing and backgrounds
All the above imparted with generous doses of humor, enthusiasm and encouragement.
Composition concerns
Drawing considerations
Seeing and representing values
Mixing color
Application of paint- options abound.
Drawing / Painting hair, clothing and backgrounds
All the above imparted with generous doses of humor, enthusiasm and encouragement.
To sign up for workshop please follow this link: 
If you live further than a short drive away, we’d enjoy hosting you on site in our Guesthouse or Cottage, Please call or email us for availability.
Guesthouse- $180. for three nights (plus one complimentary night if you wish to stay over on Sunday night.) 3 Breakfasts included
Cottage- $240. for one person for three nights (plus one complimentary night if you wish to stay over on Sunday night.) $285. for a couple. Three breakfasts included, plus Welcome party for 2nd person in a couple.
Call 210-602-8562 or email us@whistlestopcorner.com with your questions.
The Narrative Figure Inside. A three day workshop with Susan Carlin
It's impossible to describe the pleasure of announcing a workshop of mine in our own studio. But, trust me, it feels WONDERFUL. I hope you'll join us!-Susan smiling widely
The Narrative Figure Inside.
When: Friday, Saturday, Sunday February 20, 21, 22 with a welcome reception the evening of Thursday February 19.
Where: Whistle Stop Corner, 330 Lamar, San Antonio, TX 78202
Fee: $365. Includes instruction, model fees, reception and lunch each day
Who: For artists who want to feel more comfortable and better equipped in painting the figure, both from photographs and from life. This workshop will focus on telling a story with our paintings. Workshop limited to 12 artists. Artists may work in the medium with which they are most familiar. Susan will be demonstrating in oil. This particular workshop is for intermediate artists (or for advanced artists for whom this subject matter may be newer).
Welcome Reception Thursday: Come hungry Thursday evening and party! Enjoy plentiful refreshments and wine, meet the other artists, choose your spot in the studio and set up your easel and supplies.
Friday: Artists will have the opportunity to practice photographing the model in a variety of poses in order to create references for narrative paintings where the setting and situation in relation to the figure create a story for the viewer to enjoy. Although not a requirement, artists will especially benefit from this workshop by bringing along a laptop or iPad and a camera in order to practice editing the images and preparing them to be painting references. Much of the first day will be spent in this way. Composition is key.
Saturday: After a demonstration by Susan, artists will be painting from the references they prepared. Each artist may choose whether to make many small painting ‘starts’ or to work on one painting all day. Artists may work from their monitors or from photographs made from their references. We will focus on improving accuracy in drawing and value, relating the figure to the surroundings by color and shadow to create a mood or feeling response in the viewer.
Sunday: In two long sessions, artists will be working from the live model in poses to create narrative paintings. Photographs may be taken from each artist’s perspective in order to continue work on the painting after the workshop.
We can host up to 8 artists in our guest rooms at Whistle Stop Corner. $180. for three nights in Guesthouse, $240. for three nights in Cottage. Contact us for availability: us@whistlestopcorner.com
To register, email: us@whistlestopcorner.com
210-602-8562
Whistle Stop Corner's first workshop!
Today the last of our guests headed back home after a magical five day workshop led by Carol Marine. We now know we are truly going to love our new life- as artists who will open our studio and guest house to other artists a few times a year for workshops and retreats. We had 18 unique and enjoyable artists in the studio, and 9 of them staying with us in the guest house and cottage this week. Our meals were crazy good- prepared by Sue Bown, the incredible owner of Bide-A-While in Dickinson, TX. The double whammy of fantastic instruction and great food had each artist smiling and grateful they were among the lucky few who were able to attend. Carol's waiting list for this workshop exceeded 100. In the realm of art workshops, we opened Whistle Stop Corner at a pinnacle.
We'll likely host smaller scale workshops in the future, but let me tell you: It was a thrilling way to begin our new (ad) venture!
Two New Workshops Scheduled!
Two Day Still Life Painting Workshop in Del Rio, TX : October 10-11, 2014. $150. Sponsored by the Del Rio Arts Council. For more information, email Nancy O'Brien at nobrien@delrioarts.com
Three Day Still Life and Portrait Painting Workshop In Bracketville, TX, sponsored by the Fort Clark Arts Group January 26-28, 2015. For more information contact Jean Levert Hood at leverthood@gmail.com
We're SO busy getting Whistle Stop Corner ready for its big debut, that it was pretty crazy to schedule a workshop less than a month before the opening... But when I was asked so nicely, and when it sounded like a welcome break from painting walls and scraping old adhesive off of hardwood floors, I said YES, INDEED! There are still four spaces available in the Del Rio workshop, so why don't you join us?
The workshop in Bracketville is after the first of the year and is in a warm part of the country, so you might like to promise yourself a little art and sunshine in the middle of winter. I know I'm looking forward to it!
Portrait Workshop with a focus on Drawing Skills - January 17-18, 2014
Registration for this workshop is full. If you're interested in my future workshops, please email me!
If you've been looking for a chance to work on your skills in portraiture, whether in sharpening your drawing ability or in working out those flesh tones in your painting, come spend two days in November- Friday and Saturday, the 8th and 9th with me. We're keeping the group small so each artist can be assured of plenty of personal attention. I hope you'll join us!
Place: Harold's
2743 Roosevelt Ave, San Antonio, TX 78214
Cost: $150.
Time: January 17-18, 2014
9:00- 4:00 with an hour break for lunch... bring your lunch and work on through, if you like!
Feel free to use your regular palette of colors, but if you'd like a recommended supply list, just email me: susan@susancarlin.com.
Final Touch, oil, 28 x 22 (Not Schmid)
I painted most of this painting almost four years ago. I painted it online during my at-least-once-a-week livestreamed sessions and one of the artists who joined me via the chat function mentioned that the subject looked somewhat like Richard Schmid. From that point on we referred to the painting from then on as "Not Schmid". I still think of it with that title, to be honest. But officially it's titled "Final Touch"... for a couple of reasons: 1) Even though the model (a nice man who did me a great favor to pose for many, many photographs) was not holding anything during our session, I gave him a paint brush in the painting. To me he looks like he's doing what all artists do toward the end of a painting- staring/seeing critically and deciding if it's time to sign it. And 2) I put this painting away just before finishing because I was puzzling too long on how to handle the shadows of his chair on the floor and wall and needed to get on to other paintings. Time passed. Other paintings were painted. About six weeks ago I pulled Not Schmid out and suddenly knew what to do about those shadows. I put on my Final Touch/es and framed the fellow up. He's watching over my shoulder in the gallery now. A critical-eyed guardian angel. I like him.
Two Day Portrait Workshop Nov 8 and 9
... with me!
This workshop is over now... and it was SO much fun to work with such intent and happy artists.
I have another scheduled on January 17-18, 2014.
I hope you'll join us.
If you've been looking for a chance to work on your skills in portraiture, whether in sharpening your drawing ability or in working out those flesh tones in your painting, come spend two days in November- Friday and Saturday, the 8th and 9th with me. We're keeping the group small so each artist can be assured of plenty of personal attention. I hope you'll join us!
Place: Harold's
2743 Roosevelt Ave, San Antonio, TX 78214
Cost: $150. Register by clicking on the PayPal button below.
Time: Nov 8 and 9
9:30- 4:30 with an hour's break for lunch
Feel free to use your regular palette of colors, but if you'd like a recommended supply list, just email me: susan@susancarlin.com.
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| Getaway, oil, 30"x24", black floater frame. $1200 |
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| Drawing, graphite, 10"x8" |
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| Drawing detail |
Although Whistle Stop Corner still occupies most of my waking hours (and probably most of my dream time, too), recently I've gotten the chance to paint a bit and to take this drawing commission above. The loving wife of the man on the left (viewers' left) commissioned me to make a drawing of him with his late father for Father's Day. The patio in background has some significance for them, so was requested to include the roof detail. I've heard that it was received with love and appreciation.
The (large) painting at the top is of a little cove along the western coast of Ireland from my time there in 2010. I long to spend many weeks in the future exploring that beautiful, beautiful country.
Since I've posted last (I'm embarrassed to see that it was in November... blush), we've traveled to Istanbul in April and got to take my dad with us this time. It was a special 10 days of family, tulips, ancient architecture and a visit to Istanbul's incredible Modern Art Museum. I'm in love with that city.
WSC is coming along... We now have new wiring everywhere: we can finally just flip on a switch and SEE. Very exciting, believe me, to roll up all those extension cords and put them away. A couple of non-weight-bearing interior walls have been demolished and new ones framed in on Saturday. We still hope to be ready for our first painting workshop in the former grocery store's space in the fall, but have decided not to make ourselves any crazier than we already are by scheduling anything before it's ready to go. The cottage now has working lights and outlets as of yesterday. We have our second tenant in Apartment 3. Our friend Diana came over Friday evening with her tools and before long she had all the blinds installed in Apartment 2. Things are progressing, we remind ourselves. Before long the vision and the reality will look very much like each other.
I've gotten some of the sweetest messages from a few of you who let me know I'm being missed. Thank you, Dear Ones. I look forward to rejoining this good community when we can come up for air. In the meantime, I'll post as I'm able! Sending love....XOXO
WSC is coming along... We now have new wiring everywhere: we can finally just flip on a switch and SEE. Very exciting, believe me, to roll up all those extension cords and put them away. A couple of non-weight-bearing interior walls have been demolished and new ones framed in on Saturday. We still hope to be ready for our first painting workshop in the former grocery store's space in the fall, but have decided not to make ourselves any crazier than we already are by scheduling anything before it's ready to go. The cottage now has working lights and outlets as of yesterday. We have our second tenant in Apartment 3. Our friend Diana came over Friday evening with her tools and before long she had all the blinds installed in Apartment 2. Things are progressing, we remind ourselves. Before long the vision and the reality will look very much like each other.
I've gotten some of the sweetest messages from a few of you who let me know I'm being missed. Thank you, Dear Ones. I look forward to rejoining this good community when we can come up for air. In the meantime, I'll post as I'm able! Sending love....XOXO
Safe With You
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| Safe With You |
Haven't framed it yet, but it's drawn lots of positive comments from visitors at the gallery - always nice to eavesdrop on.
Thank you for dropping in on my blog!
September 30- One Day Portrait Workshop
One Day Portrait Intensive Workshop with Susan Carlin
for both oil painters and pastel painters.
Whether you've painted hundreds of portraits or never have had the nerve, spend the last day of September moving your skills forward!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Nueva Street Gallery
in La Villita, San Antonio’s Historic Art Village by the Riverwalk.
507 E Nueva Street, San Antonio, TX 78205
Workshop limited to 15 artists.
$100.
Register by check or email: susan at susancarlin.com to receive a PayPal invoice.
Please arrive 8:30-9:00 a.m. to set up. Workshop will begin at 9:30.
Morning session– 9:30-12:30
Lunch 12:30-1:30 Bring your lunch or lunch on the Riverwalk
Afternoon session– 1:30-4:30.
We will be working from your choice among photographs I will provide.
Further details- supplies needed and parkng information, etc., will be sent upon registration
We’ll work our tushies off, learn a lot and have a blast!
Gallery: 210-229-9810
Nueva Street Gallery
507 E. Nueva Street
San Antonio, TX 78205
www.nuevastreetgallery.com
email: susan at susancarlin.com
Cell phone: 210-602-8562
Nueva Street Gallery
507 E. Nueva Street
San Antonio, TX 78205
www.nuevastreetgallery.com
email: susan at susancarlin.com
Cell phone: 210-602-8562
Happy Freedom
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| New Schwinn Admiral 700c at Whistle Stop Corner |
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| Parked at Nueva Street Gallery- Sculpture?! |
The thing we kept saying when we found the property that would become Whistle Stop Corner is, "We can bicycle to work!" And this week we have finally begun!
First, I did my usual uberFrugal thing... and consulted the listings in Craigslist. We met a man at a parking lot midway and I jumped right on the blue bicycle he was selling for oh-so-little. Even though I'd noticed that he'd Armor All-ed the heck out of the tires and even though it was an asphalt lot at 2:00 p.m. on a hot late-August day in Texas, I still took the first turn too sharply and the slick tires slid across that hot asphalt and I went right down on my keister. My pride was the biggest thing hurt. My keister was the next biggest thing. Oooch. But I paid the man and rode it to work the next day. Imagine my glee! I did love the idea of the bike, but not the actual bike, turns out. I still found myself looking at bicycles online. Apparently I had not married the blue bike... we were just dating.
On Sunday I found The Shiny New Schwinn. I also got Accessories: a cute white wire basket that comes off and has a handle for carrying, LED headlight and taillight, a Dddling-dddling-dddling bell, and a Kryptonite bike lock. She's white with red lettering, red sidewalls and red piping on the seat and red cross stitch on the grips. She's a rolling peppermint! Hey, that's a good name for her, don't you think? Peppermint, it is. I have an electric bike, too, named Peggy Sue: the down-home version of Pegusus... get it? ;-)
It takes 10-15 minutes to get to Nueva Street Gallery or to get home to Whistle Stop Corner, depending on lights and those minutes are spent smiling and saying Good Morning and Good Afternoon to everyone I pass, feeling the self-made breeze and the freedom and instant time travel to my youth.
My happiest Christmas was 1966 when I was 11 and my parents gifted my sister and brothers and I with new Schwinn bicycles. Mine was pink and white. I loved it so. It put wings on my sense of freedom and expanded my territory in a big way. I'm 57 now and still can appreciate that feeling.
What does this have to do with painting or art? A happy artist makes happy art? Another action taken to fulfill our dreams makes us more of who we are? I don't know... It does feel like it's part of my dream as an artist somehow. It's also less gas used and fewer parking fees paid... always good. But a sense of happy freedom - The BEST.
Still Kickin'
I'm pretty sheepish about how little I've posted to my art blog, even though friends have assured me they understand. I do miss it, though! I miss the connection to my artist friends which I always felt when we commented on each others' work, encouraging and acknowledging each other's efforts. I'm looking forward to feeling that again soon.
Also, we've posted to our Whistle Stop Corner blog today, since WSC has gotten all our time and energy lately. A wonderful article was just published about our venture, which you might like to read here.
Please don't give up on me if you've been checking in here occasionally for news. I'm still kickin' and I can't wait to renew our friendship!
The Secret
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| The Secret, oil, 11"x30" |
My life for the last 5 weeks has been a whirlwind of pre-rehab demolition, chatting with visitors at the gallery, shipping artworks off to their homes and businesses, hosting my father for a week while he helped with drywall removal and pulled thousands of nails from the wood beneath, watching numerous episodes of "Income Property" on HGTV which we record to watch when we drag home and collapse on the sofa in the evening. I hope you can picture me grinning ear to ear! I've only gotten to paint in spurts during this time and thought I'd show you a couple of paintings I like a lot. The one above is an idea I've mulled on for about four years. The little girls who modelled for my reference photos were wonderful. I'm considering a series with this theme. The Secret sold so quickly I didn't get to enjoy it very long before it went off to Connecticut along with the portrait I painted of John Pototschnik, the landscape painter from northern Texas.
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| Detail of McCaul- commissioned portrait, oil, 16"x20" |
The one above was a commission for a fellow in Ohio who wanted to surprise his wife with it. I hear she liked it very much. So did I. I made a few requested changes- shifting her gaze to the viewer from the reference photograph's gaze of up and to the viewer's right. I also did a bit of simplification of her outfit.
I have a few more commissions waiting, then- watch out! I'm bursting with a need to paint landscapes. Brace yourselves... they're on their way!
An Anniversary and A New Adventure
Four years ago today, I opened Susan Carlin Art Studio And Gallery after retiring from my 22 years of practice as a chiropractor. That February 2nd, in 2008, marked a thrilling return to making my living as a full-time painter and, for the first time, a gallery owner. A year and a half ago, in September of 2010, I dove in deeper yet and traded up to a much larger gallery and to representing now over 20 other artists. I have a busy schedule of commissions and spend my days in activities related to the making of art and to helping artworks find the perfect people to love them and take them home. You'd think that would be enough to keep me occupied, right?
Well, I'm diving in much deeper yet again.
Today, February 2nd, 2012, my partner and I have purchased a property with three buildings, one built in the 1920s- a grocery store for over 70 years (seen above), and two built at the end of the 1930s- an apartment building with eight garages, and a tiny cottage. All three have been boarded up for ten years, just waiting for two artists with VISION to come along. If you'd like to see and read a little more, please hop over to our blog we've started to chronicle the revival of these special buildings and the creation of an event center which will host art workshops, the making of a guesthouse for the lodging of artists who attend them, and the evolution of an apartment building, from a retro past to a high-tech present: "retrotech" residences.
All three make up Whistle Stop Corner!
Sketches of my new family in Istanbul
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Bedriye, Halide, Hande, Sacide, Nilgun, Neslihan, Aslihan, Nadide This series started as a quick sketch of Aslihan, Ugur's beautiful 12 year old niece, second from the right on the bottom. Within a day or two it became a series of all the women in the family... except Ugur. Guess I'll need to rectify that soon, right? I love to sketch. These days, sketching has become simply a cursory prelude to a painting, though. I need to remember how delicious it is to simply sketch. |
Robin- the finish of a commissioned portrait.
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| Robin, oil 16 x 20 |
Robin's smile must be missed every day. Every time I paint a portrait I feel as though I've gotten to know the person I've painted... I spent so many hours looking into her eyes, I felt privileged to have been smiled at like that.
My love to Robin's family.
See the start of this portrait in previous post.
I'm alive and well, and starting a new commission...
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| Start of commissioned portrait- Robin. |
Yesterday I got to start a new commission- a lovely woman named Robin. I decided to broadcast live as I painted so I could have some company through the process. Several friends popped into the chat room to watch and talk with me- always wonderful. This image above is a work-in-progress image just two and a half hours into the 16 x 20 oil. It's fairly thinly painted so far, as my objective was just to map out my values and work toward her likeness, and get the white of the canvas covered.
If you'd like to watch the broadcast of the beginning of this portrait, it's in two parts:
part 1 (about 45 minutes)
part 2 (about 57 minutes)
I'll try to post the image of the completed portrait when I've finished.
Over these first 14 months we've owned the gallery, Ugur and I offered each of the gallery artists a show- a chance to showcase their work by showing more pieces than we are usually able to show, and we've had a reception to kick off each exhibition. Right after Thanksgiving, it'll be OUR turn. Wait!!! That means we need new work. (She panics.) Between now and the end of Thanksgiving, I actually want to experiment with new subject matter and new painting processes, and right now I only have sketchy ideas for those new paintings. It's kind of exciting, actually. Only part of the excitement is panic. (Ok, a big part.) But I'm actually very interested to see what will happen when I step out some of my patterns of limited thinking. I'll let you know how it goes!
"If I Weren't So Stingy..."
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| Glorious Gold |
Boy, that really struck home when I read it the first time many years ago, and each time since.
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| Reclining Nude |
It took me until this year to buy the metal spirits can with the clamp-on lid I've wanted since I started painting in oils. And I only got it because it was in Jerry's Artarama's Deep Discount Super Sale.
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| Stephen and Ben Wenzel |
Just today I dug all the sticky tubes out of the disreputable lunch bag I've been using to hold my paints and organized them in a VERY inexpensive (No, really- $6.98) plastic tackle box from WallyWorld. Well, at least I don't have to scrabble around and dig through the tubes to find the one color that's sure to be on the bottom and be the stickiest of all.
My frugality is a sickness. And it's deeply, deeply ingrained.
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Online Workshop Painting |
Let's wrestle to the ground and hog-tie our sickening stinginess. This year I'm going to buy a great travel easel..... I am, SO!
Happy Birthday to my child-like and worthy inner artist!
Finding Time To Paint (Write/Sculpt/Create anthing...)
I was going to paint today. No, really. I was.
The cute couple who are the subjects in my current portrait commission are on my easel right now looking at me as if to say, "Come paint our hands now. And how about clothes, for Heaven's sake?" I've looked back longingly and apologetically in return, but have not painted. I've vacuumed the gallery, taken photographs of two children for a portrait later in my schedule, sold a print, a bracelet and some cards to visitors, discussed the possibility of representation with an inquiring artist, eaten lunch -a bite now and then as I could dash into the kitchen between visitors, and I've composed this newsletter to send out to you. I haven't painted.
I think I know why: I was taught to do my chores first and then play. Like I was taught to eat my spinach and clean my plate before I could have dessert.
Because painting is the funnest thing ever, I think I have to earn it. I have to deserve it- I have to do my chores and eat my spinach first.
But what if you make a living doing what you love? The rules get all tangled up in our heads. Is painting (writing/sculpting/playing music/designing, etc.) now the play or the chore? I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "I wouldn't want to paint for my living, because then it would be work, not play."
It's never worked that way for me. Painting is the funnest thing, whether I'm painting a commissioned portrait or painting something of my own conception. Getting paid to do it is an added layer of joy, not something that transforms the process into drudgery. So, what's the solution, you ask?
I think paintings get done when I schedule them in like they're important, too. Women especially "get" this, I think. We're learning to schedule ourselves into our own days along with the tasks of home and work. It's intention backed up with actually writing it down. Between "Do the laundry" and "Bank," you write "2:00-3:00 Paint."
To REALLY make sure we do it, we can tell a friend what we intend and then plan to call that friend to report in once we've done it. Learning to be accountable to ourselves is easier when we use our natural urge to be accountable to others.
Deadlines are fabulous motivators, too. Painting for a specific competition or for someone's birthday gift or because you agreed on a certain due date with a client... all can light the fire under us to align ourselves with our easels and get started. Waiting for the muse isn't smart. The muse shows up when we've got a smudge of Cadmium red on our right cheek or when we've lost track of time because we're typing fast and our brains are full of the story we're telling.
So... it's time to close up the gallery and I'm packing up the cute couple to take home with me. I've promised them hands and clothes. And I keep my promises.
One-Day Online Portrait Painting Workshop July 2, 2011
Study with Susan Carlin… from home.
Move your portrait painting skills forward with a
One-Day Online Portrait Painting Workshop
Saturday, July 2, 2011
$60. tuition includes video pre-instruction, day-long workshop, two assessments of your work-in-progress during the workshop, with suggestions for how to proceed, and one assessment-and-suggestion session a week following the workshop. REGISTER NOW!With registration, and at two weeks prior to the workshop, you will receive:
• a high-resolution image file of the workshop reference,
• a supply list,
• the address and password for the website where you may watch the pre-instruction videos, and where the workshop will be held.
The day of the workshop you will receive:
• instruction in the art of painting a portrait,
• two assessment-and-suggestion critiques of your painting, if desired.
One week following, if you take that time to put finishing touches on your painting, you’ll receive:
• a third assessment-and-suggestion session.
By registering early, you’ll have plenty of time to carefully complete your sketch on your painting surface in preparation for beginning the painting on the day of the workshop.
At 9:30 Saturday morning, July 2nd, I will discuss my process as I start from a white canvas panel and paint the portrait as you follow along and paint from the same reference.
At midday, you may take a digital photograph of your painting and email it to me so that I can put it on screen and discuss what is working well and how you might improve it when you resume painting. At this time you’ll see the paintings of the other artists attending the workshop, and get to know them better through the chat as we discuss each other’s efforts.
We’ll paint again until 4 p.m., completing our paintings. Again, you’ll send me a photo by email for assessment and suggestions. When we’ve completed those, we say, “goodbye and well done!” A week later, July 9 at 10 a.m., we meet up again for another assessment-and-suggestion session for those who’ve painted further on their portraits that week. We celebrate our accomplishments!
What you won’t have to do when you register for this workshop:
• Pack up your art supplies and carry them anywhere. (Savor this one… Ahhhh…)
• Find someone to feed your dog or cat… or spouse.
• Drive to another city.
• Pay for a hotel room.
• Dress up. Or dress at all. (Stay in your jammies… who will care? Ahhhh….)
If you would like your final painting’s image to be posted on my blog (with or without a link to your site), there will be a $10. fee option at the end of the workshop. I’d love to show off your work!
I hope you’ll join us for a fun, heart-racing day of painting your socks off!
REGISTER NOW!
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