Carefree Painting

Over the weekend, I went over to Erin's house and we painted for a few hours. And we laughed a lot. Which was very therapeutic for us both - not to say that we needed it, but the company and the whimsical atmosphere were delightful.

What is it? I don't know... and it doesn't matter. It's "Sunday," painted without thought and in joy. And this one...

Painting has become a favorite way to spend time with friends, just goofing around. It's color and kindergarten. Fun :)

I hope to do more of this with those of you who browse the site and would be open to painting with me. Especially as I get into the breakneck pace of February, it will be great to offset the seriousness of producing cards with the fun of the brush while hanging with friends.

ETC: "Skinny Jeff" stops by and leaves a comment overnight. He has a web site (I won't link to it, but he lists it and you can click into the comments to see it) and he asks me to visit it and link to it. Because his site is at least relevant (art), I won't consider it spam, but that's kind of what he's done. My trivia mechanism has curtailed all of the bot spam.

So I go to his site and it's a lot of text (and Google ads) about learning to paint. Not much of it is really very helpful... nothing demonstrated in a step-by-step method or anything. He kind of talks around the subject without explaining how.

And then the irony... in this post, which discusses how I just willy-nilly painted with Erin over the weekend, he posts a comment, when at his web site, he says this:

"Often people with a certain artistic predisposition think that all they need is paper or a canvas, brushes, paints of different colors, and off they go to the path of artistdom!"

I respect his desire to make a buck, and I wish him the best, but for anyone who wants to paint or draw, my favorite books are as follows:

• David R. Becker's How to Sketch with Watercolor: a brilliant book with robust examples and a lot of step-by-step examples. David's use of color is just superb.
• Charles Sovek has a masterful way of explaining the "how-to" process. His site lists five books - I have three of them and will hopefully soon purchase the other two.
• Richard Schmid's book, Alla Prima (Everything I Know About Painting) is lush. Simply masterful and honest.

On the other hand, if you just want to enjoy painting for the fun of it, with no real serious agenda, I recommend Life, Paint, and Passion.

Read the whole story of "Drawing and Painting"
by Brett Rogers, 1/23/2006 9:41:43 PM
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I love your blog. :-)

I also like drawing and painting. In fact, I have a website where I'm collating tips, articles and techniques on how to draw and paint. Please feel free to visit it (it's free). And if you like it, consider linking to it: http://www.Learn-to-Draw-and-Paint.com

Regards,

Skinny Jeff

Posted by Skinny Jeff, 1/24/2006 5:41:28 AM

Hi dude,

I stopped by your blog once again, as I genuinely liked it, and wanted to see what's new.

I'm sorry to read that you considered that I "kinda" spammed you by leaving a comment and a link to my site. That was not my intention at all. As you pointed out, the content is relevant, and I thought I would add value to your blog by leaving a link to it. I am very sorry you took it the wrong way, and please remove my earlier comment if you still believe that is the case.

As for the step-by-step demonstrations... they're coming soon. I am building that site during my spare time, but I will be including more content gradually.

And as for "wanting to make a quick buck", that is not the case. I have placed Google Adsense ads, but the amount of pennies I make from there on a monthly basis does not justify the time I invest in the site. I do it mainly for the passion... and to share the content with other alike people.

So, dude, sorry for the misunderstanding. Drop me a line using the message link in my site if you feel like it.

Once again... I really liked your blog, and that's why stopped by again.

Regards,

Skinny Jeff

Posted by Skinny Jeff, 1/27/2006 1:01:19 AM

Fair enough, Jeff. You stop by now and then and let me know of your progress. As your site's content improves, I'll reconsider my decision not to link to it.

Posted by Brett Rogers (http://www.beatcanvas.com), 1/27/2006 6:06:26 AM