I was recently asked to help others design their first studio space. Your space will depend upon your situation, and the most important part is to know that YOU CAN DO THIS!

If you have the desire, especially if it just won’t go away, you owe it to yourself and to the rest of us, to set it up!

My first studio space was in the basement of my home in the Town of Madison in the 1990s. I painted the concrete floor in pastels colors, laid down some carpet squares I could easily manuever,, and went to work. Back then I was sculpting with red art clay.

A year or so later, I took over the sun porch — what had been the dining room. That’s when I’d begun to paint with oils and I needed more light. It was also warmer upstairs than down.

It took time for me to find a living space with room for a studio once I moved to Honolulu. I was painting with watercolors, so it was easier to set up and tear down than working with oils. Even today, I use my studio space to begin and touch up my painting. Most of my painting is done outside in public at the Art Kiosk at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

For great ideas on how to set up your studio, check out this post by RedFin:
https://www.apartmentguide.com/blog/art-space-in-your-apartment/

Each pet portrait, like each pet, is different.

Colorful pet portraits began because I wanted to make playful color choices in all my paintings. I’d found myself faithfully recreating what was before me yet missing the life force of my subject.

The “illusion of reality,” the painting of “realism,” is a tough habit to drop!

I began by painting photos from magazines. I wasn’t painting “for” anyone. This was a learning experience, with no pressure or strings attached. It later became a class I taught to help others infuse more color into their paintings.

 What follows is the painting of “Mikey,” a much-loved, “older” schnauzer.

The process of painting YOUR pet begins with your decision to have a portrait painted.

Once a portrait is ordered, you send a photo or two of your pet to me, along with your preference for either a “traditional” portrait, or a “Hawaiian-style,” rainbow portrait.

Your photo is a template for the drawing, the “bones” of the painting. The photo of your pets’ face is enlarged so details are clearly seen.

The portrait always begins with the eyes, nose, and mouth. They must be realistic for you to feel the love in your pet’s eyes — no matter what colors are used for the rest of the painting.

When Mikey’s eyes were enlarged, two figures were clearly reflected in his gaze. It felt important to show them in the final painting as a true testament to Mikey’s love for his “people.”

Watercolor is a delicate medium. Layers upon layers go into creating just the right color. Each layer must dry before the next one can be painted on top.

Most applications of watercolor for pet portraits are added with the paper lying flat. This keeps the colors from running willy-nilly all over the page.

Once the eyes, nose, and mouth are painted, the rest of the face follows.

My rule of thumb is to only paint what I “know” to paint.

This means I pause and look at the painting until I “know” what to do next.

Pausing is as important as painting!

My thinking mind doesn’t decide what to paint, I wait until I feel the urge to paint.

As I paint one area, another area will call to be painted.

Sometimes, an area already painted will call me back for another layer of color.

In this way, I meander around the painting, adding color whenever called.

This isn’t a mysterious process, it’s the result of pausing, looking, then waiting for the impulse to paint.

Being pulled to do something is preferable to being pushed to do something.

This might seem like a subtle difference, but I assure you, it’s really important!

Painting continues as layers upon layers are added to the eyes, nose, and mouth. This ensures the entire painting “comes up together,” feeling congruent.

Thin layers ensure that the paint remains translucent, giving your pet’s portrait a luminous, lively feel.

The background is painted last. Complementary colors are often chosen to reside across from the opposing complement on the body. Two layers are often needed here as well.

My painting, “Eyes of Awareness” began in one of the Hide-N-Seek watercolor classes I teach.

The painting process is called “Hide-N-Seek” because I never know what the result will be. Each painting starts with an idea, sometimes a drawing, that’s hidden when texture is applied to wet paper.

This painting had no drawing.

I unravel 3-ply jute, a garden twine used to create texture. My full sheet of 300# Cold Press Arches watercolor paper is sopping wet. The texture hides a drawing or describes areas to be painted. It provides a path along which the paint moves.

As I laid the jute hap-hazardly on the paper, I explain, “this is a painting about procrastination. It’s about feeling anxious or resistant to doing something you must do, but don’t want to do.” 

My palette glistens with bright, juicy, wet colors. Lifting a 1.5” brush filled with color, I continue, “Angst doesn’t feel good. You’re all tied up in self-made knots.” 

Splat!

I swirled and threw great gobs of color, starting with yellow on much of the paper. Continuing around the color wheel, I flung oranges, reds, and pinks. The darker blues, turquoise, and purples are thrown on the bottom third of the paper — where procrastination lives — in the gut.

“Suddenly, in a burst of ‘I can’t take it anymore,’ you go ahead and do that thing that you don’t want to do.”

The cleaned brush is dipped back into the warm colors as more paint is released. Yellows, oranges, pinks even gold gouache sails through the air, arcing from the bottom melee of dark colors up toward the top of the paper in a spray of freedom. 

At this point, the paper is loaded with rich, wet colors. It looks more like a question than an answer. What will this painting look like?

“Now,” I say to the somewhat shocked class, “we wait.”

The colors fade a bit as they dry. When it’s still damp, I gently lift the jute to see if the paint moves. If it is, I leave it alone.

Once the paint no longer moves, I remove the jute. Some of the paint lifts off with the jute.

When the paper is completely dry, I begin to find the painting.

I’ll stare at it until I know what to do.

Your painting will always tell you what it needs, what to do.

Speaking isn’t our first form of communication. It takes time to learn to vocalize our thoughts —
to even realize we’re having thoughts!  

Scribbling often comes before speaking. It precedes drawing, painting, and writing, too.

Drawing (refined scribbling), painting, and writing help me verbalize my thoughts and feelings.

I recently read an interview with an artist in which the art critic asked if she considered herself a commercial or fine artist.

Ohmygoodness, the thoughts that ran through my head when I read that question!
I wrote them down to be released so I could resume my own creative journey.

This was a paradigm-shifting moment for me. (You’ll be reading more about paradigms for a while.)

This is the second painting of my Paradigm Shift Series.

 This question felt like the clash of the ancient “starving artist” paradigm and the (I hope) emerging “Living Artist” paradigm.
The one in which we don’t have to starve and die before we’re compensated or recognized for the work that we do.

Why do we insist on creating hierarchies instead of appreciating all things as they are?

Why is one form of art considered “higher” than another? One form of art might be more pleasing to you than another,
and one might have an entirely different purpose than the other.

Art is a form of communication.

Art can set the mood, the tone of your room, office, or home. It can also help connect one room to another.

Presumably, the art you put on your walls is art that you like.

That might seem like a “no-brainer,” but it’s easy to worry that you don’t know enough about art to choose the “right art” for your walls.
Whether it fits with the “décor of the day” is far less important than whether it makes you smile.

Does the image or item bring you joy? Does it tickle your fancy?

Does it pique your curiosity? Does it make you think?

Does it make you hungry (think kitchen or dining area)?

Is the image soothing or energizing? Would it work best in a bedroom or a more active living space?

Do you like the colors, the movement, or the energy in the imagery? Will it help you to feel at home?

Art can affirm something you feel about your life or that you want to feel more of in your life.

Most importantly, do your lips turn up or turn down when you look at the piece in question? 

The point is that you get to choose —
without making anyone else “wrong” in their choice.

Remember, you can always ask the artist for assistance when looking for complementary pieces.

To read more about choosing art for your or office home decor, check out this blog from Redfin.com

https://www.redfin.com/blog/artistic-home-decor-tips/