What inspires you?

I believe that you must paint what you love. If flowers inspire you, paint them. If it's trees, then sketch them, and paint them.

I am a firm believer in painting what excites you. For me, a walk along the shore at sunrise, puts me into a happy space. Breathing in the sea air, the rising sun peeping over the horizon, as a seagull flies solo or the light dancing on the edge of the wave. These are the special moments that get my artistic juices flowing.

I remember reading once that watching the sunrise balances the Chakras, as the entire colour spectrum is absorbed through your eyes. By the time the sun is up you can start your day feeling perfectly balanced in body mind and spirit.

The reason it is important to paint what you love, is that it shows in the painting.

Start with a loosely painted or sketched impression so that you dont feel any pressure "to produce a masterpiece"  When you start in this way, with the focus on having some fun, you will not only get into the zone quickly, but you will enjoy the process immensely.

Mix the colours mentally as you watch the sunrise (or whatever your chosen subject is).
Think to yourself  " How would I mix that colour?)

Put the emphasis on "playing" and dont try too hard. LET GO AND LET GOD.

REMEMBER to do a ten minute sketch daily, of anything. Sketching will help develop your "artist's eyes". Take note of the spaces around your subject i.e. the negative spaces.

HAVE FUN!

"ART ENABLES US TO FIND OURSELVES AND LOSE OURSELVES AT THE SAME TIME"

Thomas Merton

Lets start at the very beginning.... the sky's the limit

If you are new to Art, you are about to embark on a life long journey of discovery.

You will start to see things in an entirely different way.  Everything you look at will have colours you would never have believed were in them. A sky for example, that you thought was blue with white clouds, will take you through a rainbow of nuances, from greys to yellows to

violets. You will wonder how you never saw these colours before.  It is as if a switch has been flicked and you have a new set of eyes! These are your painter's eyes. It will change your way of looking at things forever. Looking at a simple sky, for example, becomes really exciting!

Skies can vary depending on the mood of the day.  The most uninteresting sky will be that of a perfect day, where the whole sky is one colour.  The more interesting skies will have a mixture of three or four colours. The trick is to get the right amount of each colour mixed, and that can only come with practice. So the more you paint, the quicker you will learn about colour.

To paint from life is best and it is where you learn the most.  When you are staring at the sky and trying to match the colours, it is much easier than painting from a photograph, which is dull and uninteresting. Painting from life will enliven you and you will have a rapport with your subject.

The mood will grab you and enhance your painting more than you can ever imagine. 

It will at times be challenging as the changing light happens fast, but that is where you learn the most,  from Nature itself.  It is our teacher in many ways and especially in painting.

"Aim for the sky, but move slowly, enjoying every step along the way. It is all those little steps that make the journey complete".  - Chanda Kochhar