DAWG-Designing Artists Womens Group

I think I've figured out why my paintings often become more of a labor, than a labor of love. My palette is out of wack. First of all I don't use a real artist pallette. I use a paper plate. I thought I was smart, it's disposable and fits neatly into a plastic zip lock bag to keep acrylic paint overnight. Most times when I paint I put the color I plan on using anywhere on my disposable pallette without a plan. Often times I mix right on the canvas, so my colors aren't uniform. I paint in chaos.

I just read Robert Glenn's Twice Weekly letter on “Tales the pallettes tell”. He states that “Whistler believed proper palette organization was the key to all the good stuff. Seurat, as we might imagine, kept his mainly primary pigments in a pretty rigid and unwavering order.”

Glenn goes on to explain how many artists value the organization and planning of their pallette as a fundamental part of their creating. It sounds way too left brain to me. I don't organize, I don't schedule. I jump in with both feet and start with no rhyme or reason. I may have a vision of what I want to do somewhere in the back of my head, but often times my paintings take on a mind of their own and mutate into something very different than I envisioned. I think I need to rethink thumbnail sketches, plan my colors, and decide where my art is going. My chaos must be reformed. It almost sounds like work. I'll let you know how that works for me.