“When you pick up your brush it should come to life in your hands” writes Tony Smibert at the beginning of Chapter 6 in Painting Landscapes from your Imagination. He continues, “Somehow we have to free the brush so that it will dance across the page as if it were alive in our fingertips rather than trapped by them.”
This second part of Genie of the brush is all about Making Marks, the title of the chapter, using the four simple steps of Dotting, Dabbing, Dragging and Rolling, with my brushes hopefully dancing across the page.
The best part of this exercise was following Tony Smibert’s suggestion to “free movement to a rhythm or a beat.” I took this to heart and dotted, dabbed, dragged and rolled to one of my favourite Jazz pieces, Blue Monk by the great, late Thelonius Monk, the genius of the keys to match the genie of the brush. It was also the perfect opportunity for another “Over my shoulder” video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.
Over my Shoulder VI – Making Marks
One of yesterday’s landscapes that followed the exercise using a combination of dots, drags, dabs and rolls. Definitely a good day 🙂
You can find links to all of my other Over My Shoulder videos on
From Yardwork to Artwork: The Photinia Story Part Three
thechangingpalette 