Free Painting Lesson

The freedom of creating using watercolor paints, pens and pencils

This is not a how to paint a tree or person lesson....
It is a lesson in loosening up, playing and exploring the unknown.

You will need:

*Colored pencils
*Colored pens
*Standard pencil
*Simple water color paints and large, medium and tiny brushes
*Inexpensive blank white paper or an artist’s journal, at least 12x18 inches
*A quiet place, well lit, to work. (I find, after everyone has gone to bed, or left the house, the kitchen table works great)
*Soft music (It often soothes the daily stresses so you can focus on the creative energy within you.)
*An attitude of playful curiosity and adventure

1. Take a blank piece of paper, a pencil or pen, and 3 colors that appeal to you. With the pencil, just doodle with nothing particular in mind. Try making curvy lines, a few dots here and there, maybe some small odd shapes tucked in, connect some lines, allow others to hang in mid air, just play as if you've never experienced what lines, dots and curves can do. Add to this your 3 favorite colors just any old place on the picture. Leave some blank spaces. Sometimes you see real objects begin to emerge, go ahead and fill in the details if you want, or not.

2. Allow the freedom of just experimenting to help you enjoy the process. Creating something from nothing is exciting and surprising. Try not to plan ahead or judge, “Oh this is the wrong color", "I shouldn't put that line there", "Gee, if I'm careful I can show this to others and they will think I'm a great painter, maybe even buy it," or "If I don't do this right, what will others think." These are all certain creative thought stoppers and block your ability to experiment and create. Instead, focus on how much fun it is to just doodle.

3. The way to get the most out of this exercise is to remain unattached to the final product. You can throw it away, you can keep it, you can cover a book with the end result. Just keep thinking as you experiment with line and colors there is no finished product. If it turns out lovely, fine. If it turns out ugly, fine.

4. The assignment is to just play with the materials. As you relax into just playing, date and sign all of your creations and keep them in a private place. Treat these doodles as you would the pages in your journal--personal, private, for your eyes only, unless you have a friend who is non-judgmental and supportive of you, don't share them for a few months. If you open yourself to others’ judgments, you will soon stop experimenting and close a door that is potentially very expansive in your creative abilities.

What I have learned about my own expressive art work is that, in time, when I look back on what I have created, I find joy and mystery in what came through me. As I distance myself from the immediate creation by a few weeks, I become far less critical of my own efforts. I see the true majesty of divine inspiration. It doesn't matter if the creation is "artistically" proficient. It doesn't matter if the creation is skillful and trained. It does matter that whatever it is, I allow it to come through me. It teaches me about me.

Over time, as you play in this way, you learn your own sense of what pleases you and what doesn't. You begin to try the same thing over with a twist, outlining some colors, painting large and grotesque or small and dainty. Try it all, use cheap paper and cheap watercolors, felt pens, colored pencils. Then when you've done a lot of playing, you will begin to see how the creative process flows through you in very wonderful ways, not just on paper.

Pay attention to your inner guidance as you go. Keeping a journal handy is a great way to jot down whatever comes to mind as you work.

When you can truly get out of your own head, and just flow with where your hand wants to take you and be constantly surprised, you are training yourself to be in the flow with creation.

True creativity comes from this place in all of us.

Enjoy!

To contact Peg, to share your feelings and experiences with this process, email her at: pegritter@sacredselfcenter.com.