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So my husband asked to see the painting I was working on which, frankly, was in its early ugly phase.  Husband, whom I fondly refer to as 'The Captain' since he's a pilot, was super nice and didn't really comment....just nodded his head in aknowledgement with eyebrows raised, like people do when a toddler proudly brings them a bug.  When he later saw the finished painting, he was amazed at the difference.  The Captain said something like, "I can't believe that painting is the same one I saw! I had no idea that (the early painting) could turn into THAT (the stunningly gorgeous finished painting that made angels weep).  How did you do that?"  Based on his reaction, I thought I'd post this demo.

The very first step was a light pencil sketch on canvas to show the placement of key structures, and map out the darks and lights.  This is when you decide where your focal point should be, and you generally don't want it directly in the center of a painting.  In this case, the focal point will be the yellow area which I've placed just right of center.

Then comes the first layer of acrylic paint, or 'block in', below.  Kinda looks like some strange version of Noah's Ark!  When painting outside, this is usually when passersby stop to see what you're doing:) 

Still more color and a lot of hard edges.  I'll definitely need to soften some of the edges later.  Acrylic paint dries very quickly so you can layer as much as you want, but its quick drying qualities can make blending/softening difficult.

Here's where the magic starts to happen.  More work on the background trees, & the tin seams in the rusty roof are corrected.  I also added a little bit of bluish-gray to the roof to help dull it.  I started a little work on the foreground also. Blue highlights are added to the right side of the house, and light yellow-orange highlights begin on the front.  I later removed the green blobs on the front corner of the house after I decided having foliage there would be a distraction.

More details all around. I softened the bottom and left sides of the house with foliage & blending, added rust highlights to the roof, & more yellow-orange highlights to the front of the house. I added more trees to the background and a hint of purple wisteria to complement the purple shadows in the house. I refined the yellow jasmine, and added some blue & yellow-green to the foreground. Nature turned this old abandoned home into a spectacular sight, and I hope I portrayed just a tiny bit of the beauty I saw that day.

'Something Old, Something New'

11 x 14 acrylic on canvas

For all the non-painters out there, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.....When I first begin a painting and I'm not sure where to start, I squint. I squint at whatever it is I'm trying to paint. Many artists do. This removes all the pesky color variations, and those little extraneous details that can be distracting and, frankly, overwhelming to paint. Try it! Look at whatever is in close proximity to you without squinting, and notice the details. Right now I'm looking at a tree, and I can see every branch, every single twig and leaf…even down to the little bark squiggles and moss. Okay, now close your eyes about halfway and squint. Simplifies things a lot, right? For me, all those little leaves have merged into one mass of beautiful greens, and all those teeny twigs have disappeared. I still know it's a tree, and I feel the essence of the tree, but without all the commotion. To me, squinting is a form of minimalism.

I've become a fan of minimalism. As I understand it, minimalism is about removing or minimizing the things in our lives that create a barrier to what's most important. Material clutter, emotional baggage, societal and financial pressures....Everyone's journey with minimalism is different. For artists, it can mean lessening obligations and setting boundaries to allow more time to create. It can mean conveying the soul and essence of your artwork without including distracting details. Maybe it means decreasing debt and the hours you work for someone else, so that you can do the meaningful creating that brings you joy. Maybe you need to unclutter your studio. Whatever barriers we all have, and whatever obstacles are keeping us from the amazing life we're capable of living, we owe it to ourselves and each other to remove them.

Yes, I believe in the power of squinting. Let's 'squint out' distracting details, so we can better see the big picture. Let's pay less attention to our differences with others, and spend more energy understanding them. Let's focus less on daily grievances, and more on the joy of simply living. Let's minimize the meaningless. Minimize, squint, and create.

For more information on minimalism and living a meaningful life, check out the amazing essays by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists.