5 Minute Tea Cup Demo

Sunday I taught a 5 hour workshop at Rockland Center for the Arts, my standard "How to Paint Fast, Loose and Bold". I've taught enough of these workshops that I can expect certain reactions from the participants. I hand out evaluation sheets at the end of the class, one question I pose is, "What would have made the workshop better?". Inevitably someone always responds "more time to paint". I find that a bit ironic, since this class is specifically about LESS time, not more. My goal is to show everyone how to paint quickly and confidently - working FAST. If I say so myself, thats a fairly tall order to teach diverse group of people, from total beginners to very advanced painters how it works. And it requires a certain amount of talking, explaining and demonstrating on my part. After I'm done with my part, its time for each student to do 3 paintings - the first is 45 miniutes, the second is 30 minutes and the last is 15 minutes. This is not exactly comfortable for those who are used to weekly, monthly or even bi-yearly paintings. By the time they have finished their second painting, however, the lightbulb goes off. And everyone starts to get it, as in better put down those small brushes because you got a lot of canvas to cover in a small amount of time. For those who think that its just impossible to do a 15 minute painting, I demo a 5 minute painting. In contrast, I explain, 45 minutes is a lifetime!

Daily painting is cool - you exercise your creativity/painting muscle, it stays limber and flexible. Nothing gets too precious because you don't have much time invested in it. If it works, great. If it doesn't, so what - try again tomorrow. I tell my students, anyone who is motivated enough has 15 minutes a day to paint, no matter how busy their life is. Keep your paints and brushes handy and ready go at a moments notice - paint ANYTHING. A spoon, a hammer, an orange... And if you need more time to paint, see what you can create in 5 minutes and gradually build up to 45. It will feel like a lifetime.

5 Minute Tea Cup

Acrylic on Canvas 4.5 x 4.5"

Cup'l

I've heard it's good to paint in a series - like 2, 4 or 6 paintings of the same/similar subject, same size, same style, etc. so they all go together, and potentially could be bought together as a series. Another reason is that there is something nice about having a series; it looks cohesive, they each complement the whole, and it feels like you had an idea and explored it beyond the initial attempt. I felt that "Two Cups" needed a complimentary piece to go with it, so heres what I did today.

Cup'l

Acrylic on Canvas, 6x6" $100.

Two Cups

Two Cups

Acrylic on Canvas 6x6" $100