Leaning into Subtlety

 Do you ever feel that your art is "too busy"? You know you have too much going on, but you are not sure what to do about it? Afraid of wrecking it, or 'losing' some of the parts you like best, you get a bit creatively paralyzed over it. 

Join me for Leaning into Subtlety, Friday, February 12, 2021, at 5:00 pm EASTERN time. This is a quick (hour and a half) demonstration hosted by Winslow Art Center via Zoom.

I will demonstrate a few go-to techniques I use that keep me loose and unafraid of painting over. These techniques are about building subtlety as part of the process, but also toning down high drama, or 'editing' to bring your piece into focus. 

Here are a few examples:

This one includes tone-on-tone collage in the yellow area, plus a little spatter of yellow ochre. 11"x14" on bristol.

Tone-on-tone mark making, collage, and spatter bring a little depth to this piece. 11"x14" on bristol.

Fog, lower right, is the main technique I demonstrate on this piece. 11"x14" on bristol.

This piece has a lot of texture, but I've toned down some if it using a dry brush technique. 11"x14" on bristol.

This is another example of toning down texture. This is the "after", so the texture is considerable more subtle in parts than the "before". 9"x12" on bristol.