Taking the Challenge

When our Pieces of 8 painting group gets together just about anything can happen!  We like to make up challenges that keep our brains sharp and our creative muses on their toes...so when Carmen wanted us to dig deep into our supply drawers and bring out the tubes of color that we had long ago abandoned, we were ready to take up the challenge.

If you paint, you probably recognize this.  Something you bought because it was a) on sale, or b) recommended in a workshop.  And it has never seen the light of day since!  So we came with our bags and palettes of such.

Carol brought us all a "subject" and we settled in to make silk purses from sow's ears.  It was rather disconcerting at first not having our "go to" standards handy to use.  But slowly we adjusted and started thinking "dark" and "light" or "warm" and "cool" as opposed to yellow, blue and crimson.

Denette was able to find a variation on the colors needed for her apple and pepper and got right into  painting  the details.

I, on the other hand, had a long stretch to paint this green apple with the colors I had.  Add to the challenge that we had under two hours to produce and we have a baaaad habit of talking through the first 30 minutes at least!

Mary does watercolor and although she swore these were not her default bag of trick hues I think she did a pretty darn good job of painting a green apple.



Carol (below) had a board with some wonderful, pre-done texture on it and was able to use that for added interest.  Her red apple is definitely red but these were some strange shades that had luscious names but uncommon tints.

Kathy (below)

was a renegade and decided not to paint a piece of fruit.  She went after a photo of an owl she had taken at the national zoo.  He was so cute I think he would have been fun to paint in any color.

I share these not because I think they are wonderful pieces of art (I hear the group choking right now) but because you can make an artistic challenge out of almost anything.  As long as your brain has to process the painting basics and your eye can help you execute, there is a way to overcome almost any obstacle and still make it pleasing.  Obviously it would take a bit more practice  to perfect but taking leave of a comfort zone is a boost to learning...and a sure-fire way to challenge your skills.

Now, where is my cad yellow and cobalt blue.....waah, waah, waah.

Colorfully Challenged,
Cindy