Square Dance Method

My eldest daughter came over for a painting lesson last week. Let’s call it more of a guided refresher course — both my kids, Esther and Casey, are good artists, though neither has chosen it as a career. Anyway, Esther said she wanted to rekindle her creative fire a little. She arrived in my studio, put on an apron, and we started. 

My approach is a bit like square dancing. Sort of a call-and-response type thing. 

“Take that big brush and make ten lines,” I said. Esther laid down ten broad blue squiggles. 

“Take this pallet knife and make fifteen circles…” She made these blue too, but in a different shade.

“Now, rotate your canvas and drip paint from one edge…” A layer of purple rain washed down. 

The cues are just improvised. The dance steps are not rigid and the learner has room to be as creative as they want in responding. But they are relieved of the burden of control, the worry about where the big picture is headed, how the dance will end. Using this approach, I’m pretty sure I can teach anyone to make a successful abstract painting on the first try — “successful” meaning something they will like. 

Over-thinking is the enemy of creativity, especially when you are getting started. But veterans have to fight this tendency too. Artistic expression is so often about getting out of your own way, out of your own head, drifting down to a subconscious level where delight and surprise are born. 

To get there, you need to just push paint around for quite awhile. This is the beauty of using opaque paint, like oil or acrylic. You can just keep adding. Most paintings you see have many previous layers buried under the finished surface. The finished piece is just the end of a meandering journey — one of false-starts, experiments, second thoughts, side trips, detours. Maybe some day I will do a series of photos of a painting in progress, to show this evolution.

Back to my Esther….. She pushed paint for two hours, and was suddenly physically exhausted. I forget how tiring it can be when you aren’t used to it. One thing you do develop with practice is stamina. I can go all day. 

It’s true that anyone can paint, but newbies may need a nap. 

Some new work is attached — as always with many layers under the surface. 

Enjoy!