Each month I drive from Boulder to Denver to take a class with a gifted artist and juror, Linda Doll, who comes from San Diego to teach my group. We are artists working mostly in watercolor but her advice and tips to improve paintings could work for any media.
As we put up our work for critique, Linda has the ability to zero in on the strengths and weaknesses of each piece and in a few sentences let us know what needs to change or be improved to make the picture a winner. By putting her hand or finger on one small area of a painting she emphasizes her point and the whole piece becomes stronger. I’ve already had so many aha moments I wonder how much more she can teach us over the course of a year.
But, I find I can only hold on to so much information when I am learning so I have to employ several methods to be able to retain the whole experience. I need to see the painting being discusses. I need to see Linda’s hand over the offending area of a painting and I have to hear her talk about the change that could be made. I have to use my own hand and do the same to emphasize the point. I have sit with the color wheel she recommended we buy in my hands and manipulate it to understand color changes and the reasoning behind it. I have to ask questions when I need clarification and get a direct response. I have to make diagrams of paintings as she talks about them to help me remember the point she was making. I have to make notes on the notes Linda gives us. Most of all I have to transcribe my notes when I get home and reread them during the month between classes.
Every part of my learning method increases the amount of information I retain. Amazingly, I’ve found “new” information within my notes after the third reading. I may have written it down but didn’t understand it or know its value until after I’d read it for the third time.
After this month’s session I was so excited about everything I had learned and had so many possibilities for completing the next assignment running through my mind I got lost on my way home, a route I take regularly. When I came out of my reverie I had driven several miles out of my way and had to take new roads to get back home. Although disconcerting at first it was refreshing. But then, that’s what I am finding is true about taking this class. My artwork had become stale and is now becoming refreshed as I learn new routes toward finishing it.
Find out how you learn and don’t try to skip steps when the information is important to what you want to achieve.
About the photo: This is the pastel painting I took for critique with Linda Doll in September. To make it a “winner” I am challenged to make it either a predominantly warm or cool painting. Right now it is 50/50. I should also make it a stronger 3D picture by making an edge on the painting on the easel to give it depth. I should also darken the leg of the easel so it does not attract so much attention. Of course I took notes to remember all this AND put my finger over the easel’s curve to imagine the change! I’ll send another picture of the corrected painting in a later post.

