Well, it has been a week since I began this blog and I have yet to lay out any paint and brushes and begin to place color on a surface. I struggled still with how to begin and in my quest for that starting point to ensure taking off in a different direction I decided to pick up one of the books that I had bought this past year but had only scanned when it came in due to pressures at my work and family medical matters.
The book I decided to check out was The Painterly Approach: An Artist's Guide to Seeing, Painting and Expressing (Northlight Books, 2008) by Bob Rohm. The title attracted my attention as this is how I've often expressed my goal: to paint more painterly. I began reading the book in the middle of the week and spent most of the day Saturday reading it through. Now that is not how I would normally use an art instruction book nor recommend to others to do. However, the way this book is written so perfectly matched my past experience, present problem, and future hope so well that I didn't want to put it down. It was a very easy read and I took notes as I went through page by page so as to get the content beyond the cognative level.
In the book are principles to follow and some great and practical suggestions for putting those principles into practice. While many of the principles have been found in other books I own, this book put them all into one place, explained them clearly and eloquently in a manner that fit me like an old, comfortable shoe. I now have the entry point for my journey and will start out walking instead of running by doing a good many small 6"X8" studies with just primary colors and a 1/2 inch brush as suggested by Mr. Rohm using the principles he has presented in his book. I can tell you this, if I can get to the point of painting with the dynamics of Mr. Rohm's examples, I'll be very happy. When I can do this consistently without having to think about each principle and each stroke I'll have reached the place I wish to go in my art. Thank you Bob Rohm for your book. It has already been an inspiration.
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