Warms and Cools to kick start your creativity!

Select two-three hot pigments-such as : yellow, orange or red. Creat a painting with all hot colors. Use a little bit of cool (such as blue, green or purple) for relief.

Try this again with cool colors such as: blues, greys, purples and greens. Selcect two-three. Add a bit of warm/hot colors to make impact. Compare the two different art works. Is there harmony or contrast? This is another way to get inspired to foster your creativity.

Personal and Universal Symbols-your Mark(s)

an example of using symbols in artwork "Siren's Call" 30X40 acrylic on canvas

Invent your symbols-what represents you? Make a stamp of it through a lino cut. For example: a house, a bird, a tree, a new shape-think of it as a "chop" as in the Chinese Culture for calligraphers and artists, or personal mark. Be as specific as you can. The univeral symbols are:

square, circle, cross, triangle and spiral. How can you work these into a painting or start a painting using a combination of of your personal symbol or symbols and the universal ones?

example of chinese chop from the following blog: http://clarewilkinson.blogspot.com/2009/01/asian-screen-painting.html

Name the Painting-Painting by Intention

Discovery. work on paper, 23 x 35

Before you start, give your painting a working title. Remind yourself to refer back to your original inspiration--what do you want to communicate in your painting? For example you could use a literal title such as "The Green Door," which could describe a place: real or imaginary. An alternative would be a metaphor for feeling, such as "Adventurous and Free." Celebrate what your title means. Think of colors that relate to the title, shapes that evoke your intention. Staying focused on your main idea is like following a road map and helps keep you on track.