Painted Pages workshop , the joy of painting

Last month I took a painting class called Painted Pages workshop with Sarah Ahearn Bellemare. I was so in love with Sarah's book that I signed up for the class right away when she launched her first online class. The class is really in different and more relaxing pace compared with the intensive course of Make Art That Sells I took previously. It should be like that. I don't think there should be a word 'rush' in traditional painting and Sarah did a good job of leading us to a relaxing and fun atmosphere :)

While I was taking this class, a friend who worked mainly in digital illustration also worked on her painting project. She said that she struggled so much as this was not in her field. She was amazed to see me so relaxed with the painting. This is because I know I have never been good at traditional painting. I took a lot of classes in college, colored pencil, water color and acrylic and finished all of them with some mediocre pieces. I enjoyed it but I don't think I have any potential in this art field.

I didn't do any more painting until I took Make Art That Sells class and had to do wall painting. I was so frustrated with this painting at first. But when I finally let go the feeling of wanting to be perfect, I found that I really enjoyed the process.

To me, painting turns out to be not just art, it is a method of meditation and self-exploration. When I am in front of a blank canvas, I feel calm and focused. Like designing, painting is about problem-solving. The difference is, in design, mostly you solve problems to send out a clear, visualized message while in painting you don't need to do that exactly. There is a vast space for imagination for both painter and viewer. I guess that makes me feel more relaxed :)

Below is my painting process I did for the class. I had light green color in mind when I first started and tried to work through it.



Then I used my favorite coffee filter paper. Cut out shapes and played with them.



And here my final. I confess that I don't like this final much and plan to start it over. I enjoy the time though and already excited to be in front of a blank white canvas again :)



I dream of having a nice lovely paintings for my MerryDay shop one day but for now, as I'm still learning and improving, I think I will have it just for my 'play time' :)

Thanks for coming. I hope you have a merry colorful day today :)

Book Beauty Monday : Painted Pages

I found this book while I was browsing some other books on art shelf in my local bookstore. I'm not really a mixed-media person. I just hate cleaning up art equipments after painting or drawing, to be honest. But I do love watching other artists working in this art field. Their patience in doing layers step by step always amazes me.

This book grabbed me instantly with the first spread layouts. My job mostly focuses on book design so it's kind of my habit to look at cover and text layout of each book first. Sometimes if I open a book and find something in design terms that I don't like (lousy use of fonts, bad layout design etc.) I generally put it down. This book has it all that I love, airy layout, easy to read text, gorgeous colorful photos, I especially love its chapter pages with full spreads of closed-up photos. The overall color palette just grabbed me too. The art director of this book really did a good job to present Sarah's unique character. If you go look at her website and blog, you will see how this book is really a connection.

I hadn't heard of Sarah Ahearn Bellemare before but after looking through this book, I fell in love with her work. I have seen several of mixed-media art pieces but I think I love her work best. Her paintings give out the feeling of happiness and remind me of childhood with sweet, bright and colorful world.

The book has a lot of interesting sections: Sarah's own art experiences, her creative journey, step by step working process, some mixed-media techniques (which although I don't do this art, I enjoy reading it anyway) inserted with inspiring short notes and I love the guest artists interviews!

I think you can tell how much I love this book, find it if you haven't had a copy yet :)