Just warming up

My personal trainer cautioned me to do at least 15 minutes of cardio to warm up my muscles before I lift weights. Without that warm-up, I dramatically increase the chance of getting hurt. I follow that advice, and it works.

Conversely, even though years ago, I learned that the first thing I painted was always a little stiff and awkward, I didn't draw the parallel to exercise and start doing painting warm-ups. I'll admit it, I'm stubborn. So every day I've done those stiff awkward first steps on a painting I cared about, then later go back and undo the damage and rediscover the freshness I'm hoping to acheive.

Finally I've "given in" and committed to some warm-up excercies each day, both in my body and in my painting. It gives me more chances to practice new skills and color combinations without risk. These pears are a continuation of the work in my last blog...simple shapes, focusing on color palette and brushstrokes.

Green will NEVER be my favorite color but, like a certain minor scale on the piano, it's still one of those things that's good for me to practice. And pop it into a mat (still looking at frames) and it looks pretty good!