Just a Leaf

Oak Leaf Appearing from a First Wash

For once I am taking my own advise. My heart feels as though it has shattered into a million pieces and yet I know I have exhibitions looming which need new work. I  have never had a problem when it comes to finding inspiration to pick up my brush but I always paint at my best when my heart is happy. My emotions  then flow into my results and the selection of colours I use.

So when I meet artists on my workshops who tell me often they find it so hard to make time to paint daily or even get into the mood to  move their brushes I usually give this small tip.

Every day for a short time paint one single simple thing. It doesn't matter what it is as long as your brush has moved. Just once a day. Even if it is only for five minutes. This really does effect your artistic spirit in that you will not be satisified eventually with just these small studies. You will yearn to paint something more adventurous or complex in composition.

Right now it is Autumn and I daily walk my young dog Bailey who is missing Taffy so badly. I look up at the trees changing colour in foliage and  then I look down on the ground. Here I pick out patterns from the already golden leaves that have fallen and are laying underfoot.

A simple oak leaf carried home to study and work out colour ideas from begins to form the base for a larger Autumn scene. My artistic soul is  starting to come to life again after losing Taffy, my dear companion and pet. I will be fine in time but for now I am literally taking a "leaf" out of my own book and looking at how I painted leaves in the past compared to how I would approach them now.

I dare you to find the most interesting leaf you can find and paint it from life turning it from the ordinary to the extraordinary with bold colour choices using of  texture effects and brushstrokes. Painting a leaf a day could easily turn into a new addiction!

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