5 Things Every Artist Should Know/Do

5 Things Every Artist Should Do/Know

Yea yea yea!

There's lots more than 5 things,

but these 5 things can make or break you 

before you even get started.

Over a month ago I did a YouTube video on the

 5 Things Every Artist Should Know/Do.

Click HERE to see that video.

Then I dedicated the next 5 weeks 

diving deeper into those 5 things.

Each video is less than 10 minutes long,

 and I am trying to help all beginning artists focus on what will bring them the most bang for their buck, so to speak.  

Click HERE to see Video #1.

I put this first because as an artist, you will be studying and learning about color for the rest of your artistic life.

Click HERE to see Video #2

I put practice as #2 because  many beginning artists think that they're just going to go in there and paint a master piece immediately and that couldn't be further from the truth.  

You have to learn some stuff and then you have to practice that stuff.  It's just the nature of the beast.  If you want to get good at anything you have to make time for it and practice.  

There is no other way!

Click HERE to see Video #3.

Comparing your art to someone else's art

will only break your heart.

Not because they are better than you, but because you're comparing so you already think they are better than you.  

STOP THAT!

You also don't want to compare another artists 20th year work

 to your first year work.

That is a real recipe for disaster and a short lived art career.

Click HERE to see Video #4.

I hope that doesn't sound like I'm talking down to you

because I'm not.

What I am saying, is recognize you're a beginner 

and you have things to learn, study and practice on 

before you're going to get good.  

Don't set out to paint that gorgeous sunset with layers of hills, light streams, animals, fences, grasses, a barn and a house before you have spent some time learning about color.

Practice in bites adding things as you go.

Click HERE to see video #5.

Many beginning artists doubt themselves and their ability because they don't have any "talent".

A lot of painting and drawing is skill.

Skill comes with putting miles on the brush or pencil.

Talent is able to come out as you develop skills.

I hope you enjoyed this video series.  If you did, please click the thumbs up button on my YouTube channel and subscribe.  A little bell will pop up once you subscribe.  Click that little bell and you will receive a notification each week when I upload a new video, which is typically on Friday.  

Thanks for stopping by today and let's paint together real soon.  

It's NEVER Too Late To Start Again!

It Truly is NEVER Too Late -

So Let's Get Started!

It's May already!

 Flowers are blooming all over the farm.

Some of my favorite painting subjects.

Nearly half way through the year

and where are my goals?

I know I wrote them down.

Now where did I put them?

Ever happen to you?

Happens to me.  A lot!

Even if I know where I wrote them down,

I often don't follow through as well as I should.

So this is often my mantra!

It's never too late to start again.

So today I did.

I read,

I meditated.

I fixed a healthy breakfast.

I did some warm up exercises,

I did some stretching

and then I did a workout routine for women over 50.

(I'm way over 50).

Got dressed.

Cleaned up the kitchen.

And now I'm talking with you.

Will I do that every day this week?

I have no idea,

but that is the plan.

I'm holding you accountable to hold me accountable!

I'll check in and you check up on me, OK?

Leave a note in the comments about your goals and how you meet them, about starting over, or anything else you need to get off your chest.

Now for my favorite flowers I love to paint.

I painted these 7" x 5" florals as gifts for a baby shower I hosted for one of my daughters this past weekend.

We had a wonderful time 

and I thank everyone who came. 

If it's on your bucket list to learn to paint,

I have the perfect FREE Facebook group for you. 

 Click HERE  to go to the page, ask to join and answer the 3 questions so I can open the door for you to come on in. 

Would you like to take a FREE painting class?

Click HERE to get signed up and start painting today.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Let's paint together real soon.

Paint, Even If You Haven't Painted In A While

Haven't Painted In A While???

Do NOT let that stop you!

Often times we paint a lot,

and then not so much.

Not sure how or why that happens, but it does.

Then when you're ready to pick up your brush again,

the "voice" comes to you telling you,

"well you haven't painted in a long time, may as well just forget it".

Ignore that voice, just like it's your three-year old asking "why" for the 1,000th time this morning.

Here is Aidan painting after not painting for a long time.

Dig out some reference photos, set up a still life,

put a flower in a vase, or paint something from your imagination or from memory.

Just sit down, spend an hour and play in the paint.

My grandson Aidan hadn't drawn or painted for a while,

but he was in the studio the other day while I was making a video for my youtube channel.

Click HERE to view my channel.

He got inspired and wanted to paint.

I taped some 140 lb. water color paper to a board,

set him up a palette and gave him 3-5 brushes and a pencil

and let him alone.

He drew a car, he's a boy, he likes cars and he has

 learned how to draw them.

Then he painted the car using a lot of color.

Then he asked me if he could mix colors.

I said, hey it's your painting and your paint.

Knock yourself out bubba.

He's 9 so I left him alone to paint anything he wanted,

any way he wanted.

You can tell by that smile, he was pretty tickled with his art.

We should all be tickled with our art,

even if it's just that we

 learned a way how not to do something.

Don't let the "voice" talk you out of 

learning and improving your art.

Regardless of your art form.

Don't let the "voice" tell you you can't do it.

Don't let the "voice" tell you you don't have time.

Don't let the "voice" tell you you don't have talent.

Don't let the "voice" tell you you don't have

 a creative bone in your body.

Don't let the "voice" dictate your life.

Much of art is learning how things work, or the rules.

The rest is practice and learning how to break the rules.

This was Aidan at age 5 learning how to paint the rooster that is in my full blown art course.

He has always loved creating anything, and he wanted to try his hand at the rooster.  

Practice and trying again and again is when the real magic happens.

Have a great creative day.

If you want to learn how to paint,

visit my website at www.paintingwithacrylics101.com.

I created 7 Tips for Mixing Color and you can get it in your inbox, like right now.  
Click HERE to get your FREE Printable.  

How To Stay Motivated When You're NOT Motivated

Staying Motivated When You're NOT!

I know I should do ________(fill in the blank)

But I just don't feel like it!

Ever feel like that!

Yep!

I'm right there with ya.

How do you get your mojo back?

Here's a list of ten things to do to get it in gear.

1. Read something inspirational
2. Look at your work when you were inspired.
3. Look at your best work.
4. Look at things that inspire you
5. Look at things you want to create
6. Listen to a meditation or affirmation on youtube.
7. Piddle around with your medium
8. Create something not in your medium
9. Go to a museum, gallery, or other venue
10. Find and take a class or join a group

When I can't decide what to paint

I practice something I'm fairly good at.

Or I read about famous artists.

Click HERE to read about some famous artists.

It's natural to fall into a slump,

But it also can be something you can work your way out of.

Don't give up if you aren't currently motivated.

You can get it back!

...It's Just Business - Motivation Monday

Core Values

as an art entrepreneur I hear the word 

"Core Values"

a lot.

"You need to know what your "core values" are so you can be authentic with your clients, collectors, etc."

As an artist I've given that a lot of thought.

When I do a brain drain on my core values

things like:

honor

integrity

authentic

consistency

practice

seeing

always come up.

Especially that honor and integrity thing.

I've never evaluated my core values without those things coming into play.  

It is a core value from deep in my soul from my dad.

Punishment for lying was always swift and severe.

If honor and integrity is a core value

 that we should all emulate, 

it doesn't seem right to seek honor and integrity

. . .except in business.

I recently had an experience where I was blind sided by the lack of honor and integrity in a business.

I've thought about it a lot lately and I want to make sure I am checking myself that I always have honor and integrity

"especially in business".

I promise to you my art friends that I will:

• never share or sell your email address,
• try to give you the very best in all my art classes,
• never  ever misuse your credit card info,
• work with you every step of the way on any commission
• not cram your inbox with tons of emails

I worked for over 20 years in retail and I never believed in a hard sell approach to selling.

I've won every kind of award and bonus as a sales person and as a manager so I believe if you have a great product you believe in, there never needs to be a hard sell or dishonesty.

I hope that you never feel I'm giving you a hard sell.

To be honest, you have to search my blog 

to find something to buy.

When I was a store manager I learned that 40% of the cost of EVERYTHING you buy is to cover shrinkage.

Shrinkage is a polite word for theft.

If we could increase and improve our honesty

in our world, think about how the price of everything

would go down.

I appreciate every single one of you who have ever read a blog post, left a comment, or left a comment on my facebook page.

I want you to know I think about you every day

and how I can help you on your journey 

learning how to paint.

Since this is an art blog, I'm sharing my most recent

piece of art.

You need something pretty to look at after all that reading.

After I finished this I realized it was painted from 2 of the classes on my website https://www.paintingwithacrylics101.com.

The daisy class is free so you can go to my website and put in your email and have access forever for the FREE daisy class.  The iris are from the Iris class on that same website.  

If you'd like to learn these skills, and they are skills so they can be learned, you can go to the website and
check out the classes there.  
There will be more added monthly, (I hope).

Don't think you're going to get it the first time.

That's why you have such long access to these classes.

You will need to practice, practice and practice some more.

Remember I said it is a skill.

Something you can learn.

Learning any skill takes lots of practice.

Don't get discouraged.

Keep on practicing.

Keep on learning.

The brush must become a part of your hand.

All of a sudden it will click and you will be amazed at what you will be able to create.

I am always amazed when something I paint 

is exactly what I was hoping for,

or is different than I was expecting but I love it anyway.

I also have days where I feel like I've never held a brush

 in my hand before.  

So don't get discouraged.  

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Click HERE to visit my website.

For more FREE instruction, click HERE to visit my YouTube channel.  While you're there hit the thumbs up button and subscribe, then click the little bell next to the word subscribe and you'll receive a notification when I upload a new video, which I try to do on Friday.  

Things Can Change Really Quickly - Motivation Monday

12 Hours Is All It Took!

I took a walk last night around 8 p.m. and took some pics of these pink iris getting ready to bloom.

The day before, May 12, you couldn't tell they were pink,

but by 8 p.m. on Sunday evening, May 13,

this is what they looked like.

By 8 a.m. Monday morning May 14, this was what greeted

 me on my early morning walk.

This is a close up of this beautiful pink iris.

How was I motivated on this beautiful Monday morning

just by taking a walk and

 noticing the change in these beauties?

Those bulbs have been in the ground for a number of years.

They bloom each year and then after the blooms die off they continue to be green but bloomless in my garden for the rest of the summer.

Their green dies off after the first frost and then it looks like nothing is in that spot for the rest of the winter and early spring.

Then, the magic starts to happen.

As the soil and the air warm up,

green shoots start coming up out of the ground.

Then a stalks shoots up with tiny green buds on it.

Then you start to see a little color,

and then,

BOOM!

This beautiful bloom opens up for everyone to enjoy.

It's like that in life!

Often times we try to do something,

learn something,

create something,

be something,

and it looks like nothing is happening!

You don't feel like you're accomplishing anything.

You don't feel like you're getting any better.

You don't feel like you're moving that project along!

You might be ready to give up at this point.

But your success might be another 12 hours away,

just like that beautiful pink iris was.

If you're trying to learn a skill like painting,

and you don't feel like you've made progress,

I'm here to tell you, you have.

Your hand is becoming part of the brush,

You're understanding how to to use the brush better,

You're learning how to mix color better.

The results may not be in your painting yet,

But I promise if you keep going,

keep trying,

keep experimenting,

keep practicing,

One day you're going to amaze yourself!

Something incredible will just flow off your brush

and it will all have been worth it.

Don't EVER Give UP!

I don't want you to ever give up!

Ever!

If you want to learn to paint,

I want you to be successful.

It's out there for the taking!!!

Here's a free lesson just for you.  

Click HERE for your free lesson.  

First Saturday in May - Motivation Monday

Nothing Motivates Like 

The First Saturday in May

The Kentucky Derby is called

 the fastest two minutes in sports.

And that's probably very true!

But, many thousands of people plan for a year

for that very fast two minutes.

Click HERE for the Official Kentucky Derby Festival Site.

Things to plan for include:

Thunder Over Louisville - air show and fireworks

Balloon Glows, glimmers and races,

Bed Races,

Marathon and half Marathon,

Pegasus Parade

The Great Steamboat Race,

The chow wagon and the festiville,

Thurby - Thursday at Churchill Downs

The Oaks - Fridays fillies run for the lilies race,

The Kentucky Derby race 

Millionaires Row,

The Celebrity Parties,

and then,

THE Cleanup!

For two weeks, Louisville, Kentucky collectively

looses its mind.

In the very best possible way, of course.

It starts here at Thunder of Louisville 

with the air show

and what is called the worlds largest fireworks show

where you and a million of your closest friends watch 

the most incredible fireworks show put to music. 

Click HERE to see tons of Thunder pics.

Then everyday for 2 weeks, you can be entertained,

wined and dined 

with every kind of event possible.

All Leading up to that two minutes on Saturday evening.

The rest of the country may only see the hour before the two minutes and then the two minutes,

but Louisville, KY is ALL IN for two full weeks.

And probably 90% of all this activity is outside.

The weather forecasters in Louisville better deliver some beautiful weather on the First Saturday in May

or else you might be forecasting in Buffalo.

Derby forecasts begin showing up on the news

 about a month out.

No One wants to utter the "R" (rain) word.

We've had an unseasonably cold rainy spring,

even having snow about 2 weeks prior to the festival.

The trees are several weeks behind blooming this year.

But when Thunder arrived,

which marks the beginning of the festival,

the weather was beautiful!

In fact for nearly two weeks the weather was beautiful.

Thurby, which is Thursday before Derby speak,

and is considered Louisville day at the Downs,

was beautiful.

Fridays Oaks race was beautiful, even though the threat of rain was there all day, it held off.

The forecast for Derby Day was intermittent showers

in the morning with it clearing up between 3-3:30 for a race that was supposed to go off around 6:45 p.m.

There were showers off and on in the morning,

but nothing crazy.

Then it began to rain with some intensity around noon.

Around 2 p.m. it became a toad-strangler,

By 3 it was absolutely pouring,

by 5 p.m. there were flash flood warnings in Louisville,

and by the time the race went off, 

It was a crazy, sloppy, muddy track.

The horses in the Kentucky Derby have to win their way in.

Meaning these three year olds have to have won a particular amount of races to be eligible to run in the Derby.

Click HERE to read how it works.

They haven't run many races and some have never run on a wet track or in the rain.

By race time 2018, a wet track wasn't even in the equation.

This was the wettest track in Derby history!

It wasn't just wet, it was a

 completely new dimension in wet tracks.

One of the most interesting things about running in the slop

is with the jockeys.

They mount their horses in the paddock wearing about 6 pairs of goggles on top of each other.

Then as the race progresses and one pair of goggles gets covered in mud, they flip those down and expose a clean pair.

And then another and another.

The trick is to have as clean a pair as possible at the end,

because that's where things get really interesting.

There's the speed, 

the bouncing, 

the jerking, 

the whipping, 

and some shoving,

and then there's the mud.

If you can't see that little sliver of a hole to guide your horse into, all the planning that's gone into this moment

 may be for naught.

On Saturday 20 owners could have scratched their horse at any time as the conditions deteriorated.

In 144 years conditions had never been so bad for 

a Kentucky Derby and one thing for sure was,

this race was going to be run in that mess.

It would not be re-scheduled.

These 20 horses were bred and born

 with this moment in mind.

Their owners, trainers, jockeys, groomsmen, stable boys, hot walkers, farriers, vets and many others

 have lived and breathed this race

with this horse for 3 years.

Scratching wasn't an option!

So,

After all the planning of thousands of people,

all the hoopla leading up to the race,

the clothes,

the hats,

the parties,

and you'll notice I'm not even mentioning the mint juleps or the wagering,

The race is still on and they have to still run,

in the worst possible conditions.

Life is just like that.

We work,

We plan,

We try,

and then things go south

and we have to get through the worst possible conditions.

Why?

Because at the end of it all,

There is still a horse standing in the winners circle

with fist pumping jockeys, trainers and owners,

wearing that beautiful garland of roses.

And this year the favorite

and the winner

is

JUSTIFY!

Justify beat everything!

Including the worst weather ever!

I love that a horse named Justify

showed why it was the favorite and how to win

even when conditions were the worst possible.

I learned that sometimes you just have to put your head down, and push through the race,

regardless!

No matter what!

To win the roses,

YOU HAVE TO RUN THE RACE!

If you want to get in on the fun

for Derby 2019,

Click HERE.

If you want to go to the Derby, you're gonna need a hat.

My friend, hat artist Polly Singer, can hook you up.

Click HERE to check out her art.

(This is, after all, an art blog)

It's coming!

It's coming!

The Painter Nation Members Club is coming!

Click HERE to Learn all About the Members Club.

If you want to learn how to paint

on a budget,

the Painter Nation Members Club

 is screaming your name.