Available from Amazon, North Light Publishing, and various art stores.
HERE IT IS.
"KEEP PAINTING", had an limited release in January 2018 but due to technical problems at Northlight is not being formally released, along with its videos, until March. This includes blogs, social media, newsletters and mailings. It is currently available through Amazon and Northlight Books.
No one is exempt from creative constipation. Every artist knows the joy of completing a successful painting but also the frustration and disappointment that comes with less successful works but it's those dry periods, those "How do I get going again" times that this book addresses.
The creative spirit would seem to be a fickle thing. I believe that this innate gift, once we start using it, doesn't want us to get comfortable. Granted, with each new attempt is the need to repeat and perfect the skills involved and explore variations within it but with every success in that area there is the danger of getting comfortable but our spirit knows that we can always do better and wants us to keep growing and expanding our abilities by continually challenging our ingenuity. When we slack off by doing the same old, same old we fail to challenge ourselves with anything new and start digging our trench and building our wall.
What we have done is progressively fail to employ the creative powers within us and in doing so we replace the excitement of the whole process with a sort of creative limbo.
In every painting I do I try to build in some sort of challenge, something that I haven't tried before, be it ever so small. This wee challenge keeps me excited because i know that if I'm not excited about my work I can't expect the viewer to be.
In this, my final book, I have tried to offer ideas and inspiration that will help you re-engage your creative abilities by offering you ideas that you may not have thought of before that you can take and run with on your own.
The following INTRODUCTION and TABLE OF CONTENTS from the book will give you further insite into the book.
The FOUR NEW VIDEOS shown will also be released at the same time as the book.
INTRODUCTION
This book may be a dangerous to open. It will, at times ask you to use your own judgment, imagination and ingenuity to generate your own pictures ideas. There are some step-by-step demos throughout where ever I felt the need for clarity but often I rely on your intelligence and experience to carry on without training wheels.
This book is really intended for those who have painted for a while but feel they are up against a wall and need a creative kick in the pants or those who likewise have set their paints aside for a while because the process has lost its excitement and appeal.
I understand completely.
I have 5 ideas I want you to keep in mind while you read this book.
- You don't have to paint the way you paint now.
- You don't have to paint what you paint now.
- You have no one to please but yourself.
- Growth comes with persistent stumbles and a positive attitude.
- Your creative spirit is waiting for you to try out your new wings.
This book is not written to showcase what I can do but to make you aware of options opportunities, variations that you can do.
I want to offer ideas that you can take and run with, explore and develop and use in your own way. I want to encourage you to try some new approaches as starting points for a whole new painting adventure.
Later on in this book is a section on how to use photographic reference material creatively but the ideas presented will work with any original idea or sketch you have. Before we get to that section we will explore a wide range of compositional options and painting approaches that you have at your disposal.
It is my sincere wish that with a re-sharpened focus on your painting you will come to realize that the process itself is merely a bridge or vehicle you use to reach a broader and richer experience of life and that by satisfying your very nature to be creative you are connecting to all others of like spirit and purpose.
When you sense that something at your very core is changing you will realize that painting is as much about discovering and using your true nature as it is about making pretty pictures.
Painting then becomes the outward activity for tapping into the personal landscapes our memory and imagination have created on our soul and making our “self” visible.
Table of Contents
In Search of Inspiration
---Deciding what to do--the hardest part
Composition
--constructing art that is both intellectually and emotionally satisfying
Gradations and Reversals
--adding variety and realism with these often ignored features of the natural world
Mingling Colours and Passages
--letting the magic of watercolours and the viewer's imagination create a more engaging experience
Atmospherics
--Using climate conditions to set the stage for your visual drama.
Wee People
-adding life to your work with a few tiny figures
Working with Photographs
-exploring the creative potential of reference photos
Passing on the Spirit by Teaching Others
-Tips on Nurturing artistic growth in yourself by teaching others
And Four New Videos