“Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.” ― Brené Brown
Pretty much anything can be made weird by using an upside-down U for the body and a large oval for a head. I drew mine with a charcoal pencil.
Give yourself permission to do it simple. The character of the weird little animal comes into being with the painting.There is something really freeing by doing simple drawings of weird little beings. Since there are no rules, we can just be free. I learned to do these with Tamara Laporte at Willowing.
https://www.youtube.com/user/willowing
I am using gouache. I may never use watercolors again. I love the brilliance and depth of hues that I get with gouache. You can paint in any medium you wish. Wild colors make sure the Ego/Lizard Brain/ My Evil Inner witch has nothing to say because there is no reference to be followed more exactly than possible according to it.
Just dive in and start painting. Use wild colors. If you feel like you need permission to do something all different than reality, give it to yourself. Play with color in whatever medium you are using.
Let the page dry.
I am doing a weird little soul because I know I have some huge weirdness about me. Oh, it is not just other people who might comment in nasty ways, some love me for my weirdness. I have never fit the mold. I grew up in a very conservative town. I was adopted. I was a fringe child. I always floated around the edges of what ‘normal’ was expected. My mother worked, most mothers in the community did not. She dressed me like Shirley Temple in beautiful clothes she bought. Most girls had homemade dresses. I wanted homemade dresses. I had no curfews. I made up my own and was strict with it. Life happened to me…some the kind Christ would weep over... but I managed to survive, overcome and thrive. My birth family found me in 2007, just after I turned 60. I am a complex character. I know that. Most people love me. I am intensely loyal to my family and friends. I am highly educated and can do the dumbest things ever. I am spontaneous but I am a worrier. I am fearful yet I act courageous. Yes, I am not your normal everyday kind of Crone. But, I am all me and authentic. Color me weird.
After the page dries, you can now add little details that will really bring the page to life. I am going to paint with some Dragonfly Glaze. Paint carefully so you do not reactivate the gouache and end up muddying the painting.
HINT: Dragonfly glazes are color changing acrylic top coat paint. I have chosen the full spectrum one that shifts the underpainting into a new gear. I do not paint the whole thing. I have painted certain areas.
HINT: It takes 2 to 3 coats to have the paint really show its best. Also, it needs to dry between coats.
As I wait for this to dry, naturally, rather than blow dry with a hairdryer, I continue to think about why I have felt “less than” others. And I give myself permission to be weird.
So often we worry about our purpose and we try to be what other people expect us to be. In the 60s, this was a song that speaks exactly to this. We are not all the same.
When we cast aside our need to be like everyone else, and criticizing ourselves and judging ourselves according to others, we get to be our own unique self. It is freeing, believe me because trying to be what we are not leaves us wanting, deeply needy. For years we have bought into the IDEAL that glossy magazines spotlight as what should be, what we should be – wear-think-believe. Once we love what we thought were flaws (hitherto known as uniqueness) we will be at peace and are able to worry about things that need worrying about. I have a granddaughter who spends every spare dime on Botox and other fillers and carving of her face so that she does not look half Korean. How deeply disturbing and sad for her, I feel. Imagine the pain in facial reconstruction just to look like everyone else. And won’t it be wonderful to know that we are flawed as anyone else and that we are valued for who we are because we are not pretending to be perfection.
When the painting is dry, we can begin to define and add to the character. I used a black sharpie and a white paint pen to make marks to pizzazz up the page.
I hope you give this a go. It is meditative to do and gives you a few minutes peace with who you are, raw and real, as you fall into the designing.
©Carol Desjarlais 4.23.21
Pete Seeger a hero of mine.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are not anyone like him anymore.
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