Find Your Starting Strategy
Mixed media artist, Kellee Wynn Conrad (Ep.42) starts her paintings with gestural marks. She does this for several reasons.
First, it is a way to access the paintings that doesn’t freeze her up. So many artists don’t know where or how to start. This has given her a door to her work that she can open easily.
Second, these marks then give her something to respond to for the next set of layers. She can come up with fun ways to cover or respond to them.
Her goal is to quickly get the entire surface covered. Once it is, she doesn’t have to be intimated by the blank page. And she’s ready to begin her exploration and play.
Put it to Practice:
From the outside, it can seem like we are the only ones who stare paralyzed at a blank canvas.
However, most artists face the same challenge.
But they don’t let it stop them. They’ve just learned strategies for overcoming it.
Depending on your subject or style, maybe throwing down marks a la Conrad is the way to get past the blank page.
Or maybe you realize the fear comes from not having a plan so thumbnails or color studies will help you know where you want to go next.
For me, working on colored grounds helps because instead of facing a white canvas, it’s already covered in cadmium red.
Fearing a blank page or a white canvas is part of being an artist. The good news is that once you find a good strategy for you, it will be way less intimidating.
Find ways to approach your practice with curiosity by listening to Ep.42 with Kelly Wynn Conrad.