Painting Nature, Releasing the Dragon
I love painting nature freely and intuitively —without reference photos, or even a clear image in my conscious mind.
For me, the best way to create is when the picture simply flows from the pen or brush. It feels like my whole existence is tied to it. When I took this small abstract painting to the garden, it became clear where the inspiration had come from.
For me, nature feels freedom. And if I cannot make art freely, I get irritable and the colors disappear from my life.
Living in Between
Recently when I have been living in between painting series. One series ended, and the next one has not started yet. I have been gathering materials and ideas, thinking about canvas sizes, and all that planning is driving me crazy.
Yes, crazy!
I feel like I just need to create and create—the new images are already pushing to come out!
Still, this time has been meaningful. I have been working on my newest course, Drawing Soulfully, which is very close to my heart. As I have edited the instructional videos, it has been satisfying to pack deeply considered content – the explanations of how to create freely and grow that skill – into each minute.
And it has been a pleasure to see the artworks from the participants. They are amazing, and I am so grateful I am able to see them.
Intuitive Nature Painting
This week on Monday, however, I rushed into my small studio feeling like I was about to burst. “Give me some paper or anything!” I yelled to myself. I found a small canvas board, grabbed my acrylic paints, and started painting.
“What are you painting, Päivi?” I felt like asking myself, but soon swallowed the question.
There are artists who choose reference photos, plan color palettes, study the direction of light, reflections, and shadows, and paint landscapes of clearly recognizable places. All honor to them! But to me, nature appears as a system where one thing follows another.
When I start painting, it’s like turning on a machine, and the machine feels both intuitive and logical.
As the picture begins to take shape, I feel like I jump inside it, breathe its air, and hear its sounds. At the same time, I feel the tension inside me loosen and peace return to my mind. It’s the magic of intuitive painting! No shopping, scrolling, or even walking in nature gives me that same feeling.
Creative People Have Their Dragons
There is a lot of creativity in the world that people try to suppress by consuming more stuff, looking at more content, and seeking more experiences.
I also do those things. I often get the feeling that I should go buy new art supplies, browse master paintings online, or take photos of nature—right when the best solution is to just start creating. It is as if I have a dragon inside me that eats up beauty the longer it is kept locked up. But once it is released, it flies, carrying even heavy burdens with ease.
How about you? Do you ever catch yourself consuming or planning when you should just be creating?
Autumn Watercolor Flowers
This week I share an autumnal painting and talk about how dreams and everyday events get mixed in my art.
- In this project, I made the autumn watercolor flowers freely like in the course Freely Grown.
- The title “Satokauden kuulas” is a bit difficult to translate, but I explained it in the last paragraph.
- This piece is for sale at the online art store Taiko.art!
Autumn Moments
Although I usually aim for a grandiose atmosphere, my art is a lot about insignificant everyday moments.
For example, when I …
- … gathered apples from our apple trees
- … walked in a rainy storm with the dogs
- … admired autumn colors from the car window.
Or when I smiled at the hopefulness of the roses in the front yard and promised to give them a home from a painting before winter would surprise them.
Floral Watercolor Dreams
When I paint in my small studio, my mind tells me that I am a flower painter in 17th or 18th century Holland. I imagine lovely high windows, old costumes, and the clatter of shoes on the street. I imagine the flower market and how I will assemble a bouquet from the best finds.
But in reality, I’m just an ordinary Finn whose everyday life pushes through the brush.
There is a huge gulf between me and the master painter of the 18th century and yet I still jump into it again and again. Every once in a while, I decide to stop painting flowers because there’s so much more to paint. And yes, if I look at my oil paintings, my favorites don’t have many flowers. Nevertheless, the flowerless period never lasts very long.
When I go to the garden, the Flemish master is waiting for me there. He says: “It’s time to practice again, Päivi” I answer: “Yes,” and then assure him: “One day I will master this art of painting flowers.”
Still, I know that life can be far too short and far too mundane for me to ever reach that level. But like a rose facing winter, I take out my button and wet the paper again.
This piece was painted on Arches Hot Press watercolor paper. It has a very smooth surface so it’s great for a detailed painting, but I also find it a bit challenging because every stroke shows!
What’s Behind the Title?
Even if I painted autumn watercolor flowers, can you also spot the apples?
This piece is called “Satokauden kuulas” and I think it’s a beautiful title in Finnish but a bit complicated to translate. “Satokausi” means harvest time and “kuulas” is a romantic word for translucent. But there’s more. “Valkea kuulas” is an apple variety that is called White Transparent in English. So I think that the suitable English name is “Harvest’s Transparent” even if it doesn’t quite have the same romantic sound as the Finnish version.
This piece has a strong autumnal feel: bright colors meet more muted tones on a dark background.
Does the weather also appear in your art?
End of Summer – Freely with Watercolor Pencils
This week is about coloring freely with watercolor pencils. Let’s ponder about the change of season and how to process it through art-making!
New Season – New Colors Are Calling!
Even though the weather has been warm, I find that my thoughts are already turning to fall.
When I open the box of watercolor pencils, my eyes immediately go to the brown shades.
In the summer everything is bright and clear, the fall is darker and curlier.
When Coloring Freely, Art Can Be Your Friend
10 years ago, I started as a full-time artist. At that time, art was a queen who I placed on a pedestal and looked up to. Today, art is not only my colleague but also my friend. We look at each other eye to eye and smile like-mindedly.
“It’s such a sad feeling when summer is coming to an end. There is only a dark autumn and a cold winter ahead” I told her last week. “Don’t worry” she said, we have recorded the summer and there are many wonderful things in the fall too.
Indeed, summer is recorded. In July, I started working on the course Joyful Coloring. Now when I edit videos, I devour them like comfort food. The sun really shines there. Happiness can be heard in my speech and can also be seen on paper.
Everything indicates that I want others to have art as a friend too, not just on a pedestal.
Seasonal, But Freely with Watercolor Pencils
The watercolor pencils I bought in June (Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle) are already very dear. Because the color can be spread quickly with water, time is saved for details.
It is important for me to keep not only painting but also drawing. By drawing freely, we create a bridge between the outer and inner worlds. We can break the glass and travel between what we see and think.
I gave this piece the title “End of Summer.”
When I look at it, I get the feeling that an end can also be a new beginning. A joyful thought!
Joyful Coloring – Sign Up Now!
Start with blank paper and create freely with watercolor pencils!
The new online course Joyful Coloring will begin on Sept 16, 2024.
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New Beginnings in Art-Making
Let’s think about new beginnings and give one to our art-making!
In recent months, I have felt that a new era has begun in my life. It has been surprising. I have thought that I am already too old for anything new – that the new beginnings in life have already been experienced, at least in terms of working life. But it just so happened that my work as an artist has a new beginning thanks to the grant for creating digital art.
At the same time, I have gained a new perspective on the past and my artistic development. Now, it feels that life with its changes is full of new beginnings, and art, too, is full of them! There are big beginnings and then smaller beginnings within them.
Valuing Randomness and Intuition
I developed the latest course Liberated Artist Revisited, because I wanted to relive the idea of the old course Liberated Artist. I wanted to relive that time in 2015 when a new beginning meant letting go of excessive control and surrendering to happy accidents and intuition. Because isn’t it the case that whenever a new era begins, we need faith in chance and intuition – so, the art of letting go!
At the current new beginning, I have been thinking about what I have to give up. Because, couldn’t you say that life with its changes is full of not only beginnings, but endings, and ask if the same applies to art? While making the course Liberated Artist Revisited, I listened to Paivi from 2015.
Younger Paivi was very prompt: Step A and Step B and so on. If I compare her and I, I am partly different and partly similar. I would do some things differently now but in many ways., I am still quite the same artist. The new course Liberated Artist Revisited is a dialogue between the old and the new. You could also say that I have changed as an instructor a bit. Nowadays, I want to open up your artistic thinking, not so much to exclude options.
Life is so grand that everything that once had a beginning, stays in our hearts for a long time, even if it has ended. It’s the same in art. I can smile at Päivi after more than eight years, but not ironically, but warmly. “It’s wonderful to create something new with you again,” I say to young Päivi, and it’s also wonderful to invite you all to a new course again!
Liberated Artist Revisited – Buy Now!
Liberated Artist Revisited is a limited edition – only available for purchase until the end of March 2024! >> Buy Now!