Painting Over

I often paint over perfectly good paintings. I recently painted over four 18x24 works on paper. I had done these paintings several years ago at a painting workshop. The paintings were good, solid, finished pieces. However, I didn’t LOVE them. I may have liked them at the time, but I felt like I didn’t love them right now. I pulled out the pieces and started painting over them.

Painting over pieces is one of my favorite ways to start a painting. What would it be like to start at the end and find a new destination? If you remember that painting is about the process, then there is a freedom to paint over what you thought were finished pieces. I always find that having something down on the paper to work with makes the painting process more interesting. It gives you something to respond to and a place to start. There are endless possibilities when starting with a finished painting.

The way I approach painting over a finished piece is with reckless abandon. If you’re going to paint over something, you might as well go all in. I start these paintings as I would with any other piece. The only difference is that I already have so many beautiful elements already on the page. While it may be tempting to keep certain sections, I don’t think about saving any parts of the painting. I give myself full permission to paint over anything and everything that my heart desires. At the same time, I am constantly responding to the elements already in the painting. I’m allowing myself to feel into the lines, marks and colors as I create this new piece.

Once you start, you can’t go back. There’s something freeing about changing, ruining or improving a perfectly good painting. Once you paint over something, you will most definitely have a different painting. Sometimes it will be better, and other times you’ll need to keep working the piece. I like painting over pieces that I thought were done because it frees you of the attachment to the painting. You are no longer tied to the outcome, and you can fully enjoy the process. There’s nothing better than going from a painting that you like to a painting that you love. At the same time, there’s nothing like ruining a perfectly good painting! Both are good outcomes—you showed up, you painted, and you decided to go for it.

The element that I love about painted-over paintings is the layering. Since you’re starting with a finished piece, there is already a set of layers in the painting. The more layers that you add and cover-up, the more interesting the piece becomes. Sometimes only a few small sections show through from the original painting. Other times, most of the original painting can be seen in the new piece. It adds this element of mystery and depth to the new piece. It has more character and draws the viewer in closer to see more.

I enjoyed painting over these four works on paper! I am so pleased with the new finished pieces. I like them much better than the old ones, and I’m glad I painted over them. It’s important to love your work, so if there’s a painting that isn’t quite speaking to you—don’t be afraid to paint over it! You’ll either come out with a better painting or you’ll have gotten more practice for the next time.

Flow and Variety

The two elements I look for in all of my paintings are flow and variety. Flow is important because it keeps your eye moving throughout the piece. Variety is necessary to keep your eye engaged in the painting. I talked about both of these elements in my Blick FB Live last week. I’ll go a little more in-depth into both of these topics and explain how I capture this in my paintings.

Flow
I achieve flow in various different ways throughout my painting practice. First, I try to achieve a flow state when I’m painting. If you’re “in the zone” and the “paintings just flow” that is the best place to be. How do you get there? I spend time getting myself aligned for my painting practice. For me, this looks like meditation, running and yoga. If I’m in the right mindset, the paintings will come more easily onto the page. Second, I look for flow in the visual elements of the painting. This would include composition, color, line, shape and value. If these elements all work together, then there will be a nice flow and movement to the painting. Your eye will move smoothly throughout the piece—it doesn’t stop or feel off-balance. If each one of these elements has its own flow, then together the piece will feel settled onto the page. Last, I achieve flow through the materials that I use to paint. I like the Liquitex soft body paints which have a nice consistency and flow smoothly onto the page. Since they are more fluid than the heavy body paints, yet still have excellent surface coverage, it allows me to achieve that desired effect of flow in my work.

Variety
I’m always looking for variety in my paintings. This will keep your eye coming back for more. It’s really important for me to keep the viewer engaged with my work. I have a 4x4ft canvas painting on the wall in my apartment, and I see something new every time I look at it. It’s like I rediscover a piece of the painting each time—a hidden mark, a subtle color, or a gentle transition. I love finding new things in my work that I didn’t see before. So how do you get more variety? First, you can achieve variety through adding layers to your painting. Layers are a natural way to get variety since they keep your eye looking for more. I like it when little pieces of my first initial layers peek through into the final piece. Second, you can add variety to both the colors and marks in your piece. I will often choose color palettes of neutrals with a pop of color. Or, I might mix both organic and geometric shapes in one piece. The contrast of these elements will add visual interest. Last, you can get more variety with your tools. I use a lot of different mark-making tools when I paint: pencils, paint markers, graphite sticks, water-soluble crayons and watercolor pencils. This range of tools allows me to make many types of interesting marks.

Flow and variety are two elements to look for in your paintings. If you’re wondering when your paintings are finished, you can ask yourself if your pieces have both of these characteristics. Does your eye flow throughout the piece, and does it stay engaged in the work? If so, then you’re likely in a good place with your painting!

Poetry and Painting

I am an intuitive painter, and I love the idea of intuitive poetry. I’ve always enjoyed writing, in particular poetry and short creative non-fiction. I recently started getting back into writing, and it’s interesting to see the similarities to painting in terms of the creative process. I wrote a poem called “Heart Song”' guided by my intuition and based on a journal prompt by Rupi Kaur. The prompt was to write from the perspective of your body: heart, hands, belly and shoulders. What did it feel like to close your eyes, breathe deep into that space, and feel what that part of your body had to say? This is very similar to how I approach painting. I like to start by closing my eyes, leaning into my body, and feeling the colors on the page. The poem is an expression of words instead of paint. It’s a different medium, but the inner process is the same. It’s about tapping into the intuition and letting the poem or painting flow onto the page.

I approached the exercise by writing free-form in my journal. I imagined what each body part wanted to express and say to me. I then looked at the words, rearranged different pieces, and formed the ideas for the poem. It is like the intuitive painting process where you find the painting as you go. I start my paintings by tapping into the intuition and then letting my feelings guide the piece. I wrote this poem in the same way. I find words to be more rigid than paint, and poetry more structured than abstract art. However, I love this process and having another medium to express myself. The poem I wrote feels perfect.

Heart Song

I gently peeled my heart open
with my hands, each petal
one by one
softly dropping into my belly
that deep, sacred space.

My shoulders were the mountains
protecting my heart
from above, because those petals
I tended to with my fingers
were so delicate.

I heard an echo one day
from the mountains,
so loud that it
rustled the heaps of petals
that sat in my belly.

My heart started to sing.

Finding Space

I’ve been interested in this idea of finding space in both my paintings and my life. I recently started an art journal because I wanted a sketchbook that was larger where I could be more free and expressive. I was looking back at the pages in my art journal, and I wrote the word “space” on the first painting. It wasn’t something that I was aware of at the time, but obviously the thought was in the back of my mind. I have been craving this feeling of more space in my work.

The idea of having space in my paintings is one that I have explored before, and one that has recently resurfaced for me again. My paintings tend to be busy—like me—since paintings are a reflection of who we are inside. I like to keep your eye moving throughout the piece. I naturally lean towards painting more active pieces that keep you engaged. Busy or active paintings need a resting space for the eye to settle. In order to balance the busy spaces, there has to be a quiet space. It’s a place for your eye to rest. In my paintings, I have quiet spaces that emerge to create this balance.

I have noticed that in the art journal, I have been able to find more open spaces in my work. I love this idea of paintings that are more free flowing and open to possibilities. My art journal has allowed me this opportunity to paint more expressive marks and expansive passages. I am enjoying the larger size of the art journal, and I think the larger substrate has enabled more space in my work. That said, I did this beautiful expansive piece in my small sketchbook (pictured above) with these earthy tones that has a beautiful sense of space. It reminds me of a landscape. The painting has an openness to the composition, passages for your eye to travel, and a few bold marks to energize the piece. It is simple and spacious.

In addition to finding space in my paintings, I have also been exploring the idea of space in my life. In particular, I have been focusing on the body and mind. I practice yoga everyday to create space in my body. The postures help to open up areas such as your hips and shoulders. The poses require both strength and flexibility which are necessary create this openness. I have also been practicing finding space in my mind. I meditate every morning for fifteen minutes. This simple practice helps to open and create more space in your thoughts.

Painting is both a physical and mental practice, so aligning your body and mind is very important! I have found that allowing for more space in both my body and mind helps to center myself when I go to paint. The time that I spend preparing to paint is just as important as the time I spend painting. We often think that we need to just paint—and we do—but we also need to be in the right alignment to do our best work.