sbhansen ART Blog

Balance.  Something I strive to attain, yet hardly ever really achieve.  Someone asked me this week, “How do you do it all?  How do you take care of two teenagers, come to work every day, take care of your house and yard and still find time for your art?”  Simple answer:  I usually don’t.  I usually don’t have time for it all. Something typically gets dropped.  I prioritize and if it isn’t essential, I drop the ball.  So, for instance, the house, the yard, the laundry?  Those menial tasks get thrown to the curb and ignored.  But then every couple of weeks or so, it becomes imperative that I “do something” about the mess that has become my environment in which I live.  The balance might list too far to the side of uncleanliness.  So it was this week. The house-mess complained loudly.  I HAD to clean!  I MUST!  Argh.  The dust bunnies and their fellow friends were taking over.  And, I didn’t have my usual schedule, so was unable to prepare my thoughts, my canvas, my photos, and get on board for a great painting and great blog over the weekend. Sure, I squeezed out time to paint, but it wasn’t very satisfactory, as the menial house tasks were screaming at me.  Only two days to complete EVERYTHING.

Okay, so I’ve set you all up for the fact that my weekend painting was/is HORRIBLE this week.  I feel I dropped the ball.  Not only on my painting, but on everything.  Hence the title of this blog:  Balance.  We have to find balance in our lives when juggling so many things.  Like I said, I prioritize, but sometimes it’s not enough.  I strive for balance every day.

So my lilac painting will have to wait for another time.  I did work on it, but it needs so much more work that it is unfit to blog about.  😦

Instead, I’ll blog about my beast and its favorite colors.  Short and sweet and uncomplicated, this post.

The above colors are always quick within reach on my palette.  They play well with others, lift easily, and have granular properties.  Above, you can see each color by itself, then worked into the blob in the middle. Super cool and makes me want to paint.  A good thing on a day like today when I’m feeling blue and uninspired.

Next, I added my favorite go-to brushes in the fray:

I use my mop brush initially to lay in large areas of color and value. The three brushes on the right are used for detail.  They are expensive sable mixes, but hold a ton of color and water. At bottom, a super cheap bright brush for removing paint and adding detail/edges to subjects. I scrub hard with this brush and don’t care if it gets messed up.

Wait, what?  How does this happen?  The blob became a beast!

After smooshing my favorite colors together, I saw my beast again!  Add an eye, mouth, nose, and detail and voila…beastie version 2 is born.

Thus, I found a smidgen of balance this weekend.  I did finish this blob…er…blog, mopped the floors and dusted, and even managed to go mushroom (morel) hunting with the boys and my hubby.  I should be satisfied.  I should be happy.  But that stupid Lilac painting is yelling at me…