Well this is interesting. Since the artpiphany I have been finding myself spending around an hour a day in the studio, either working on canvases or doing these little paintings on paper, using photos I’ve apped into something interesting.

apologies for blur; was in the zone!

This one is a picture of me jumping, which I took earlier this year when I was doing Vivienne  McMaster’s Be Your Own Beloved course {highly recommended}. I apped the living daylights out of it until it looked like something fun to paint, and have been gathering a little pile of these ready for my one hour daily {so far!} sessions.

I recently bought my first neon paint {pink} and have been really enjoying using it. It’s quite translucent so makes interesting layers, and is quite eye-squintingly bright, so it makes any painting burst into life.

I use the images as reference rather than trying to make an exact copy, partly because I find that dull and partly because I know that accuracy is not my forte. I’d rather make something alive and expressive and maybe a bit ‘wrong’, with the energy that carries, than something intricate and careful that feels motionless.

I am however mixing my colours a lot more these days, which makes things much more interesting, and can feel my understanding of tone increasing each time I paint one of these pieces.

i was losing the light here

I love how it’s turned out. OK it’s not a masterpiece, but I am deriving a deep satisfaction from painting like this, and also from doing it regularly, which is something I’d like to carry into next year.

Jump by Tara Leaver
acrylics on fabriano paper