IT'S ALL ABOUT THE YELLOW
Taking on the challenge of the color yellow, which I have never felt comfortable using. 10”x 8”, acrylic and charcoal on wood. © 2018 David Limrite
“Another word for creativity is courage.”
Henri Matisse
It’s All About The Yellow
It is never a good idea to get too comfortable in our art making. If we, as artists, settle into comfort, it will most definitely show up in our art.
Taking risks and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone can only lead to more interesting and exciting art. Of course, we certainly want to master our techniques and get really good at doing our thing. However, we do not want to “settle in” and become lackluster.
A lackluster approach leads to lackluster art.
So, in the spirit of always trying to keep things interesting in my creativity, every once in awhile, I challenge myself to work with a color that I am uncomfortable using. The result is the image you see in this week's post, above.
For me, one of those colors is yellow.
I just have never been good at using yellow. And as a result, I have shied away from using it. So… last week I decided to create a small painting using yellow as the primary color. However, I wanted to try using several subtle variations of yellow to keep things interesting.
And since yellow is such a light color (and I love dark colors), I decided to balance out all of the yellow with something really dark. I chose black since that is more in my comfort zone. The black also calmed my nerves from having to deal with all of the yellow. {Smile}.
So, I ended up creating the piece you see above. And I like it. And I had fun making it. And my fear of using yellow has subsided a bit. I have no plans to continue using yellow anytime soon. But it was a nice departure, even if just for one small painting.
The interesting thing will be to see how this experience influences what I create next.
What color could you experiment with?
Best,
David
[NEW WORKSHOP]
For the past four years, I have been holding summer workshops on the beautiful California Central Coast in Arroyo Grande (San Luis Obispo County).
Students rave about the 3-day workshops, often remarking that they wish the workshops were even longer.
This year I will be teaching the following workshop:
THE EXPRESSIVE FIGURE & CREATIVE PORTRAIT
Arroyo Grande, CA (San Luis Obispo County, Central Coast)
July & August | 9am - 4pm | Dates TBD
We are now working on selecting the dates for these workshops. If you are interested in attending a workshop, please help us pick the most amenable dates by following the instructions below. This gives us the best shot at picking a winning combination of dates.
The people who participate in the poll will receive priority enrollment. (That’s a good thing because most of my summer workshops have sold out!)
The poll is two easy steps:
1) Click here
2) Copy and paste ALL THE DATES below that you COULD DO this summer:
July 13, 14, 15
July 27, 28, 29
August 3, 4, 5
August 10, 11, 12
August 17, 18, 19
That's it.
Pretty easy, right?
Once we receive everyone's availability, we will select the dates that work for the greatest number of artists and will send an email announcing the selected dates. You'll also receive priority enrollment for the workshops as our thank you for helping us pick the best dates!
If you’re up for an artistic adventure on the Central Coast this Summer, just click here and copy and paste ALL THE DATES above that you COULD DO this summer. Please reply by Sunday, May 20.