Light and Shadow
I read about Dr. K. Anders Ericsson's research on "deliberate practice" on Donna Zagotta's blog and realized that my pathway since 2005 mirrors many of the concepts.
Donna wrote "The essence of Deliberate Practice for artists is pushing ourselves just beyond what we can currently do in order to take our art to where we really want it to go. Deliberate Practice involves two kinds of learning: improving the skills you already have, and the acquisition of new skills. Dr. Ericsson’s message is not to rely on repetition and experience to teach expertise, but to deliberately practice the expertise you want to master."
I practice drawing and painting through daily sketchbook pages and try to move out of my comfort zone to improve my skills. My drawings and paintings copied from the Masters appear regularly on this blog, and with each one that I do, I hope that I am refining my techniques.
I need lots of practice painting light and shadows.
While walking across Park Ave at 49th St. I saw perfect sunshine lighting the south side of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church and took a photo. This is my painting from the photo.
One month later, my oldest son sent me this photo of him running the New York Marathon. It is from the official feed from the race.
Comments
Hi, Shirley,
Oh, Wow! That quote is powerful! Something to think about and keep as a reminder!
Really like both sketches: the church and the runner. Your use of shadow in each of them is great! In the Church sketch, the shadows are important and yet light. In the runner, the gesture of the shadow gives energy to the runner!
Posted by: Elsie Hickey Wilson | November 18, 2011 11:01 AM
Excellent perspective on the church! Love the shadows on both. And thank you for that excellent link. I need to bring this to my practice, especially the painting part as I sometimes feel like I am getting worse instead of better!
Posted by: raena | November 18, 2011 1:44 PM
I think your shadows look great, lovely sketches and interesting ideas from Donna.
Posted by: Cathy Holtom | November 18, 2011 4:42 PM
I've taken classes from Donna Zagotta, and she's just wonderful! Your studies are great! I wish I could do architecture the way you can. Mine always comes out really wonky. Your shadows are just right, too. nancy
Posted by: nancy t. | November 19, 2011 9:08 PM
I love architectural sketches, and your church painting is lovely. Your son will treasure that painting!
Posted by: teri Flemal | November 20, 2011 1:00 PM
Your work is always beautiful, Shirley. I particularly like the purposeful inclusion of a subtle gluteal cleft in Noah's Running Man ;-)
Posted by: Ari | November 26, 2011 10:05 AM
Hi Shirley, I'm catching up on your blog and followed the Donna Zagotta link. I've long admired her work and now, can appreciate her methodical approach as well. It inspires me to continue with my art practice by setting short and long term goals instead of worrying about over thinking art. Thank you for your usual lovely paintings and sharing useful info. Ambal
Posted by: ambal | November 28, 2011 7:20 AM