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My head is still spinning from last week's  workshop, Painting the Figure from Photographs, with Ted Nuttall in Vermont.  Although I've studied with Ted twice before—once in St. Louis and once in Santa Fe—there is always so much more to learn, so much to remember, so much to apply!

Takeaway#1: INTERPRETATION–Working from Photographs

Each morning of the workshop, Ted began with a presentation (too awesome and varied to go into much detail here). Many phrases regarding the interpretation of photographs found their way into my notes (and are now swimming around inside my head!). “Tap into your feelings,” Ted said, “Don't copy the photograph. You want it to look like a painting.” After years of trying to control every inch of my painting, I'm learning to take advantage of watercolor's unique attributes like transparency, drips and backwashes. Sometimes, my favorite part of a painting is where I let the water and pigment have it's own way, creating interesting textures and color combinations, so why am I wont to control it all the time? More notes regarding interpretation included, “Don't pick just anyone to paint...you should have a deep emotional involvement with your subject. Say it with less. Shapes not things.” And my favorite: “Be brave–try something different!” I think I'll work on that.

Takeaway#2: SLOW DOWN

“Slow down and think before you put paint down.” I've struggled with this for years! Ted's workshops have helped me to understand that painting slowly and deliberately is not only enjoyable, but it yields consistently better results (still working on it). Actually, I write notes to myself and stick them on my easel, like “Slow”, “NO!”, and “Don't wreck it!” (seriously). 

Takeaway#3: LOVE THE PROCESS

My favorite part of a painting has always been the beginning: new ideas, possibilities, and hoped-for results. Ted, on the other hand, most enjoys the process itself. He calls it the “thoughtful application of paint.” Through Ted's teaching and example, I'm learning to not only love the beginning of a new painting, but also each step along the way. Loving the process, to me, involves being sensitive to my own feelings and limitations. (I'll explain this more under the “Don't Panic Rule” section.) I think part of the reason painting has become more enjoyable, for me anyway, is because when I paint slowly, I paint better; and when I paint better, I'm happier!  

Takeaway#4: PAINTING IS HARD

“Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.”—Edgar Degas

“An artist's is the hardest life of all. It's rigor—not always apparent to an outside observer—is that an artist has to navigate forward into the unknown guided only by an internal sense of direction, keep up a set of standards which are imposed entirely from within, meanwhile maintaining faith that the task he or she has set for him or herself is worth struggling constantly to achieve.”
—Lucian Freud

'Nuff said.

Takeaway#5: DON'T PANIC RULE

Heavy stuff, right? “Be brave...Slow Down...Love the Process...Painting is hard.” No wonder Ted has a Don't Panic Rule! (I may have broken this rule in Vermont, by the way.) This rule relates to all of the above. So here's the way I think panic can be avoided, or at least nipped in the bud: Throughout the painting process, at any step of the way, if you don't like what's happening, stop! Pay attention to how you are feeling! Do you need a break? Are you getting frustrated? If you think you've ruined your painting but keep going anyway, you will sabotage yourself and you will ruin it!  

Ted Nuttall's workshops aren't just about painting people. They are about how to paint. How to think. How to observe. How to enjoy. How to become. How to learn. How to grow. How to create.

Thanks Ted. (I encourage you to check out his website at https://www.tednuttall.com/)

Paint. Love. Repeat.