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Over the weekend I went to two great artist talks at Guardino Gallery!  Samyak Yamauchi :"Might As Well Dance” acrylic Samyak Yamauchi samyakyamauchiart.com I know Sam personally and I know her process well. It was still a joy to see her talk. Because she's a joy.  Dave Benz “Still Life with poppies” Walnut ink Dave Benz (aka Benz & Chang): benzandchang.com I was familiar with Benz & Chang's art, but not as familiar with the person behind it. I now see Dave’s art in an entirely different way! So that’s always super cool. But what I took away on a personal level are two really basic concepts, one from each of their talks: Sam talked about an instructor she had once who encouraged that if you’re painting intuitively and an oversized head or hand or even a big shoulder emerges...just ALLOW it to be a big hand or a big shoulder! Simple but profound for how and why I paint. I think it's great advice for powering through some of the roadblocks I put up for myself. Occasionally I allow it to become less fun...and no one has more fun painting than Sam! Somewhat similarly, Dave talked about hands. He's one of the rare artists who ENJOYS painting hands. And he's great at it! He added that, particularly while he was learning, he followed the old rule of ‘a bad hand is better than no hand at all’. Whaaaat?!? Why haven't I heard this before? It's now written on my easel in Sharpie. Again simple and profound, which is exactly how I like to keep my art education so that I never lose the fun! That being said, my Linus Pauling piece was the first time I’d ever attempted REAL hands…because realistic hands require a ton of practice that I don't intend to do. BUT... going forward I will aim to never INTENTIONALLY hide the hands just because I don’t 'know how' to do them. I tried to find examples of other hands I've attempted and ...well, I came up short. So here's a cowboy with a cig and a finger gun! (Also a reminder that some cowboys like to wear lipstick.)  Some Cowboys Like To Wear Lipstick, 9x12, framed, $90 This is one of my favorite pieces and it's available, email me if you'd like to have it! Click the social media icons above or here are my handles:
Email: [email protected] Instagram: @amymclainart Twitter: @amydoesart Facebook: amymclainart 6/19/2017 06:53:25 pm
Those are both great takeaways. I love how Sam trusts her process fully and I could have used "a bad hand is better than no hand" in my studio this very day. But now I have it for tomorrow!! Comments are closed.
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AMY McLAINArtist/IllustratorI love art. I love pets.
I've combined the two—and here we are! |