The sun has arrived in Taos and we are much appreciative. The workers are here to add a small porch to the entrance of the studio.
When winter comes I will need a place to keep the wood dry that I will be using to heat my studio. I guess improvements and repairs never end when you have a 100 year old home.
The Beauty of Design
I had a Vedic Astrology Reading a couple weeks ago and learned a lot about myself. Vedic Astrology it is a scientific mathematical way of helping one focus the mind on their best life choices. The person doing the reading needs to know your full name, where you were born and the exact hour of your birth.
Each reading is totally different.
My reading kept saying I was the maker of beauty. The maker of beauty…wow that sounded rather nice.
It got me thinking about artists and beauty. You, as an artist, are the maker of beauty.
With the beginning of summer I bet you have purchased flowers to plant in your garden and guess what….you will select your special colors and plant those flowers in a way that says “you”.
This is Design. It is your personal Design. Design isn’t hard but we make it hard. Look at all the books about Design….gees! they are thick and some are complicated.
Developing your personal Design is essential to getting into galleries and finding your “painting style”.
So here is how to simplify design. There are rules to go by and when you fully learn and understand the rules you can break them. It is like riding a bike…you can’t stand on the handle bars until you learn to control the bike.
Number one… study and learn the rules of Design
Number two… practice those rules and apply them to your subject matter until you fully understand them. This is where you will find some designs work better for you than others.
Number three…During this time you will start seeing a pattern in the way you lay your subject matter on the canvas or paper. You will also notice how you use your brush, apply your paint, your selection of certain colors, etc.
Number four… Once you are comfortable with how you are designing your paintings you will then try to experiment and push the rules. This is really where you will open up to finding your personal painting and design style.
Number five…Now you can put everything together …design, color, edges, shape, value, etc….this is your design, your personal way of saying “you”.
When someone sees your painting grouped among other paintings they will recognize yours because you have developed a signature style.
It is your way of creating artistic beauty.
For more information about Design check out my Intimate Design and Color Workshop this fall in Taos, NM…September 14 – 18.
