'flowers for you' by myra anderson...

Painting by Tom Croft

Above is another single color painting I was working on before I had to move all of my stuff.  If I want to add anymore paint I just have to remember where I put my watercolors lol! 
Again this past week I pondered 'how can I get my artwork up to the next level?'  My philosophy for  beginning artists is...
1. draw an apple
2. you may think the apple looks terrible

3. draw another apple!
In other words don't give up, practice, practice, practice, try, try again (sometimes there's nothing more charming than a 'terrible' drawing).  As you can see from the photo above, many artists have at one time or another used a grid in order to produce an accurate drawing. 

Hey kids!  Because of modern technology you can of course buy a canvas (or paper) with the grid lines already on it (I would like to try one soon).  You can also upload a grid to your tablet. Below is just one of the grid programs for placing a grid over your reference photo that I saw online.

You may or you may not like gridding.  For me, simple compositions are super fun! For complex compositions I think it takes practice and may at times seem like a lot of work (at least for this gal).  If you are a patient person you may see it much like working a puzzle.  Some artists paint the grid marks and leave some of the markings as an abstract part of the painting.

I used a different grid for this one

You don't have to get hung up on being precise...you may just want to use a grid as a general guide.  Also a grid can be a way to help you to examine the complexities of your picture.  Many enjoy the freedom of just drawing.  But if you want to experiment and use a grid on a limited basis it can help you to train your hand and eye to draw.

rufus chalmers

Last week I showed you that cute photo of somebody's pastels.  Above are the pastel works of Rufus Chalmers.  When I look at his works I hear jazz...and that's cool!  You cool cats!