Dare to Be Different

Expand your mind-set, experiment and grow. If you are an abstract artist, try a realistic painting, and vice versa. Give your brain cells a workout. Research shows if you challenge your mind by trying something different than what you normally do in life, you generate new brain cells. It may be a struggle at first, but I bet by the time you are finished, you will have learned a lot.

TECHNIQUE ONE: Realistic to Abstract

This is a good time to practice techniques like finger painting or splatters and textures. Begin by creating the background and shapes for your realistic painting, and stop. You have the large shapes and a few color values. Now develop this as an abstract work rather than adding the details. If you are feeling stumped, take a photo of a scene or figure and squint at it. It will become blurred and distorted. Paint it like you see it. You can also do a similar thing with the blur tool available in most photo-editing programs. And have fun!

ARROYO

Darlene Olivia McElroy

TECHNIQUE TWO: Abstract to Realistic

This is your chance to play with the photos you’ve taken or to get into drawing. You can try transfers or tracing if you doubt your drawing skills, but try this trick first: Take the image that you wish to draw realistically and turn it upside down. Begin by drawing one line to the next. Don’t think about the whole picture. Your brain will trick you into seeing only shapes, and you will find that, yes, you can draw.

MOUNTAIN MEDITATION

Sandra Duran Wilson

TECHNIQUE THREE: A Bit of Both

You can do a combination of the prior two variations. If you are an abstract painter try adding shadows to a shape in your painting to give it an area of depth and realism. If you are a realistic painter, try leaving out most of the details in one area or even eliminate some shapes. Have fun and try new things.

DESERT RAIN

Darlene Olivia McElroy