The four oil paintings above, started with a blank canvas. I’ve completed three of them and the seagull is about 75% complete. They all took several hours to paint, but you’ll understand the reasoning for sharing them with you as you read on. Thanks for reading my ramblings. I’m honored that you would find them helpful or amusing. Really, Thanks!
I am living proof that there is a measure or artistry in ever soul. Wait! Don’t jump ship just yet. The word artistry can be a very broad term. For some of you it is music, or poetry, or gardening. Maybe it is writing, video or photography. For some it is honing their craft in business and parenting. For others, it might be graphic design, or graphic novels (comic books). I am convinced that within each of us is an artist that needs to share their artistry with the world.
From my elementary school days, through about five years ago, I thought that artistry was the ability to draw, play an instrument, or sing. I thought artistry was about some special gift that included acting, or authoring. What I really thought was that I was no artist!
Jenny is an oil painter, and a very good painter. Jenn can see a room and decorate it in minutes. She can make old furniture look hip, and can make the most rediculous yard art look cool. But me, not so much. Then she gave me an oil painting class for Christmas a few years ago. Being the natural born skeptic that I am, I was confident that it wasn’t for me.
Guess what? Who knew that I was an artist? I learned so many things about life as I learned how to paint. So here are three lessons that I learned and you can too!
- When you grid a picture, then grid a canvas, you can see how simple it is to draw anything. In life, you can do the same thing. Put everything in the right place and you will create a masterpiece – Put everything out of order and the barn you are painting might look like a war-torn city in Syria. Drawing is simply putting things in order, so you can replicate them in order. Here’s a thought: Put your day in order each morning and watch your masterpiece develop.
- After you grid your canvas, and your drawing is in the proper perspective/proportion, it’s time to find colors. You always start with the darkest part of the painting. Paint in those dark shadows first. It’s just like dealing with the most difficult challenge of the day first. It allows the rest of your color-filled painting to become a real pop! You can see the colors better against the dark shadows.
- I was taught to draw by grid, prioritize by color and paint for fun. When you paint for fun, and not perfection, you are achieving the desired outcome! Not being overwhelmed by trying to replicate someone else, even the picture you are trying to paint in oils is so freeing and fun. Just like in our days and efforts. If perfection is our goal, that expectation is simply unattainable and we become frustrated in our inability to be the awesomest awesome of all awesomes. Painting is an expression of joy. Art, in any form is a love of life. Putting ourselves into a season of SOUL DANCING is how we learn to love, live and lead with grace.
For those of you that are new to the term “Soul Dancing.” you are really missing out. The soul dances when the heart and the mind come together with joy, peace and contentment. The mind is often filled with expectations, reminders of failure and anxiety about the future. The heart is longing for a refuge from the drudgery of this daily grind, peace in the midst of the storm, and hope that tomorrow is going to be great. When the mind and the heart get in concert with the plans that the Divine has for you to prosper, the SOUL DANCES!
You are an artist! Grid the life you want, draw it out with help from the Divine, tackle the dark spots in your life, then draw in the colors with great joy and freedom.
Before you know it – You’re the masterpiece!
Stay Cool,
Chuck
