Saturday, August 16, 2014

A Challenge for your Inner Critic - and a giveaway

I do this exercise as a warm-up in some of my longer workshops, and also in Art Therapy For Your Inner Critic.  It is fun, more challenging than you would think, and it engages your Inner Critic in a way that is actually helpful rather than discouraging. I use this approach in my Art of the Postcard class too, but it's a little different.

Here is how it goes:

Create a piece (or better yet, a series of pieces) in which each quadrant is distinctly different from the others.  Do not simply divide the substrate into four equal parts and make separate compositions.  It has to be one composition, but if you were to divide it in four, the pieces would NOT look like they were cut from the same piece.   Use paint, collage, drawing, stamping, or any other technique.

You can see two examples in the second half of this post.  And here are a few more:

Acrylic paint, watercolor crayon, graphite, collage on 10"x11" printmaking paper

Acrylic paint, Pitt pen, watercolor crayon, graphite on 10"x11" printmaking paper

Acrylic paint, graphite, watercolor crayon, collage on 10"x11" printmaking paper.  For links to my materials see "My Favorite Materials" in the right margin of this blog.

E-mail me your examples (scan or photograph, send jpgs) and I will post a selection.  Tell me what challenges you faced, if you made any discoveries, or if it was simply fun and easy.  I will choose a winner, who will receive a set of Blick Studio Acrylics.  These are good student-quality paints, much much better than craft paints, and much less expensive than professional quality paints. 

Have fun, and good luck!  I will post a winner on Friday, August 22, so don't hesitate.  Take out your art materials and get to work.

15 comments:

  1. I would love the Blick Acrylic Paints!

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  2. Oh, I want to try. That does look like a fun challenge

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  3. I need to do this tomorrow. I am have trouble with my IC since I got home from Santa Fe. She was hiding in my studio :).

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    1. Remember, the criteria are just DIFFERENT in every quadrant, not beautiful, not "good", and especially not "balanced" or "unified". Just make a piece in which the four quadrants are as different from each other as possible. Throws your IC totally off.

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  4. Jane, Thank you for this inspiring project! I am going to try this tomorrow, and see what happens!

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    1. Jane, I had fun with this challenge and playing with all of my art materials this week! I would email you, but it seems my computer isn't configured to work with your link to your email ? I hope I can figure this out :-) I posted some of my work to my blog though,
      thanks for all of your inspiration!

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  5. HI Jane! I would love to try these Dick Blick Paints! I created an art piece...but I am having trouble with the link. Could you let me know your e-mail?
    My art blog is : www.suemarrazzo.blogspot.com THANKS!!!!

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  6. OMG! What a giveaway. I don't expect to win another so soon, but will give it a go.

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  7. When are you coming to Dallas, Jane? I did this exercise, mounted the quarters on 4x4 cradle boards and actually sold 2.

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    1. Look again at the exercise: it is not the one where you actually cut it into four pieces. Congratulations on your sales!

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  8. I'm also having a problem with the email link. Help? bgbytwerk(at)hotmail(dot)com

    Thank you!

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  9. I sure could use these paints Jane, thanks for all you do.
    Gail from Maryland

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    1. Hi Gail. You have to submit a painting to be in the drawing. So, hurry up and send me something. Look carefully at the directions.

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