Ten Condiments of Painting

Ten Condiments of Painting and other things

The Ten Condiments of Painting

By Lavonne Suwalski
  • Fight the inner doubts (Negativity belongs in the dark values of your painting).
  • Be your own Cheerleader (root your paintings on).
  • Tell it your way. Originality… Originality.
  • Break the rules (Don’t be afraid to try something new).
  • Loosen up. Let your spirit guide you
  • Schedule your Painting time (Don’t let errant errands get in the way)
  • Enjoy – put your feelings in your work (Smile when you paint).
  • Learn from your failures
  • Take on challenges
  • Remember each work of art (Good or bad) makes you that much closer to your goal.
  • Ethics:
  • Others original art, photos, drawings etcetera... are never to be sold, put online, compete in a show, or distributed in anyway and/or displayed as one's own artwork in our original vision as an artist.
  • The work done in my class’s is intended for personal growth and learning. The same professionalism applies as above...
  • I always ask myself would this work have been created or looked the way it does if I were working on my own is it my vision and my own inspiration that created the picture? If you have to, ask...

Simple Rules

By CCAC instructors, students, and random ghoasts
  • If in doubt blend it out.
  • Get in, get out, stay out. (Don’t over work a piece)
  • Paint for yourself, First.
  • Color, Shape, Value and Edges.
  • See the light and darks.
  • Learn the basics of drawing (Keep a pencil and drawing pad with you)
  • Do Studies, Experiment. Composition, Rules of Thirds, Golden Ration. Learn about and use them. Then Break them.
  • Know your Paper, Get good paper
  • Paint with basic large shapes to the specific smaller shapes. Details come last.
  • Paint from the light to the dark. Warm colors move forward, cool colors push back.
  • Work from the most “distant” object/background to the “Closest” object in the foreground.
  • Learn to control the transparency of the paint. Water is your friend, too much water is not.
  • Mix More Paint Than You Plan to Use.
  • Sharp edges are dry, soft edges are wet.
  • Creativity Runs on trial and error. Error is a part of the process.
  • Practice makes improvement, not perfection.
  • Mistakes & Accidents happen, learn from them (Happy Little Trees - Who know who said that).

Most import of all, Creativity is Play. Play and have fun. There are no mistakes (sorry Bob) in playing.