By John A Dumergue

It may be Autumn, but things are hotting up in the studio, in fact I don’t think I have ever been this happy while painting a new range of abstracts.

The other day just before starting a new painting, my wife asked me what I was going to paint, to which I replied, “I don’t know”. And this is the new joy I have discovered by just going for it by putting down the first colour in different unplanned shapes. This is when the zone of happiness begins, a time when I am not bothered by what others think of my art. A time when I have no restrictions to hinder my enjoyment.

This new approach to painting was inspired by some sessions that an American artist shared on social media. This included how to have a positive attitude when painting and some very valuable painting tips. Some of these tips were as follows.

A painting should be like a conversation, loud and quiet with dark and light colours. A painting needs to ‘POP’ to draw attention for the viewer. I have included a photo of how this worked for me with a water lily painting I did some months back. The flowers were originally pink, but I changed them to bright red, and this made the work ‘POP’.

Another tip was, if say painting squares or circles don’t put them at equal distances apart, scatter them with different gaps between each.

Paint layers of paint with the first layer showing through.

Below is how your work can progress starting as a beginner: –

Genius

Excellent

Competent

Beginner.

This chart gives the artist personal goals that are achievable if you believe in yourself and paint with a positive happy attitude. The happiness zone is amazing.