Things I learned from Georgia O'Keeffe...

I have NO idea  what kind of flower this is {taking suggestions in the comment section}.  But I fell in love with it last June, when I saw it at the San Diego Zoo.  I took many photos, including the ones below.

Two posts ago, I mentioned how much I enjoyed the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.  The more I learned about her, the more confident I became with the way I paint.  Here were 3 things that occurred to me ...

*It's okay to sketch it out first.*

Although, I often do this... I couldn't help but think it was a form of cheating. In the museum, there's a watercolor painting of hers where you can still see the pencil lines ... and even a color key where she had planned out something along the lines of "1 = white, 2 = blue, 3 = yellow".  From this I learned that even great artists carefully plan their paintings.  Sometimes you can just get on the bike, but other times you do need training wheels.  And it's okay.

*Artwork doesn't need to be flawless.*

Another painting of hers that is in the museum has a thumbprint, as the security

guard pointed out.  [he knew all the scoop]  It was hard to see, but if you knew where to look, you could see where she had left a thumbprint on one of he charcoal drawings.  I get irritated when something's not perfect ... when there is a flaw {large or small} in or on my artwork.  But hey - if Georgia O'Keeffe can have artwork with a thumbprint ... so can I.  After all, we are human.  Artwork is created by real people, not machines.

*We aren't expected to know how to do everything; it's okay to use references.*

Similar to the 1st lesson listed above ... I always thought it was cheating to have to look at things.  I have never been very good at drawing or painting things off the top of my head.  I always do much better looking at something either in person or in a photograph.  This has always annoyed me ... but I learned that she, too, liked & needed to thoroughly examine things.  Even when she was painting the view from her window, she would go on walks to get up close & examine the elements of the landscape.  There are some artists who can just create off the top of their head.  But I'm not one of them. I don't like making things up & I have trouble painting something that's not there.  That doesn't make me a bad artist, necessarily, it just means that it's not my particular style.                                       

     I definitely got my $8 worth there.

Now back to the big white flower I photographed in San Diego... I painted it yesterday.

It's on a 4x4 mini canvas. {You can find it here...}

The bee left behind a little mess... 

(and there was a bee, see?)

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."                - Georgia O'Keeffe