Lynn Whipple - Expressive Flower Painting: Simple Mixed Media Techniques for Bold Beautiful Blooms

Simple Mixed-Media Techniques for Bold, Beautiful Blooms

lynn whipple

2017 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

Text 2017 Lynn Whipple

Photography 2017 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

First Published in 2017 by Quarry Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group,

100 Cummings Center, Suite 265-D, Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

T (978) 282-9590 F (978) 283-2742 QuartoKnows.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

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Digital edition published in 2017

Digital edition: 978-1-63159-407-6

Softcover edition: 978-1-63159-304-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Whipple, Lynn, author.

Expressive flower painting : simple mixed media techniques for bold, beautiful blooms / Lynn Whipple.

ISBN 9781631593048 (paperback)

Flowers in art. | Mixed media paintingTechnique.

LCC ND1400 .W49 2017 | DDC 758/.42dc23

LCCN 2017010945

Design: Debbie Berne

Cover Image: Lynn Whipple

Page Layout: Debbie Berne

Photography: Terri Zollinger

This book is dedicated to my wonderful Mom and to my dearest hubby, John. You both live and love fully. You inspire us all with your sense of humor, artfulness, childlike curiosity, and enthusiasm. A million thanks for all of the adventures and especially for the smiles; I love you so!

Hello! I am so happy you are here!

First, let me say, we are going to have fun! I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to share with you some ideas and techniques that I know will bring joy to your creative practice. Art making is a glorious romp, where every step and each layer reveals new discoveries and colorful surprises. The most useful and exciting things that I have learned in my studio have come from the simple act of play.

I truly believe that we are all hardwired to create things. To make stuff. To share our work. To find interesting solutions and playfully satisfy our curiosity. Art making is a way to celebrate and explore everything around us. The most enjoyable art experiences are rooted in discovery. My favorite thing to do in my studio is putter. I turn up the music and simply poke around and try things. No pressure! The game is purely to see what happens to make a mark and respond to that cut out a piece of colored paper, lay it down, move it around, and respond to that. My aim is to make myself laugh as I follow the path in search of a brain surprise. Almost effortlessly, art making ensues!

In this book, we will be working together in simple, joyful ways. We will move our hands and grow confident in our enormously powerful instincts. We will feel the childlike freedom that comes from working in layers. We will celebrate beautiful flowers, a traditional subject matter, with a playful and contemporary approach. We will trust the pull of curiosity to lead us to find fresh, new combinations. We will paint, draw, and explore the fundamentals of line, shape, and mark. We will juggle the balls of color, texture, and design. And throughout this process, we will let the path reveal itself to us in the most inspiring way possible.

With much love and excitement,

To draw, you must close your eyes and sing. Pablo Picasso

Does putting the first mark on a blank white canvas ever feel a little scary? You are not alone. We all come across a bit of resistance along the way. I want to offer you one fun idea that will click your creativity into gear. All you need to do is move your hands. Thats itthe key to everything! If you are not sure what to do or how to start, you will find that moving your hands is the answer and the cure. Grab a piece of paper, any writing tool, shut your eyes, and loosely run a line along the page. This childlike motion gets things moving. It is astounding, like priming the pump for your brain. It works. You dont need anything in particular in mind as you scribble. Write your name, doodle, make scratchy marks, circles, or patterns, play with overlapping lines, be free, and let it spill out. Now open your eyes and surprise yourself!

When you begin moving your hands, new things will occur to you. Automatically fill in some of the shapes with color or begin to make patterns as your instincts take over. One of my favorite move your hands things to do when I arrive at the studio is to make a thank-you card for someone. When you begin your day in this thoughtful way, you quickly become happily engaged in the moment. There is always someone or something to appreciate, no matter how small. Your handmade note will send ripples of goodness out into the world.

Another approach is to create a very basic list. Write your list by hand, number it, and illustrate the items with sketches. I love to make each one of my numbers differently: One number is a roman numeral; the number 5 could be written out as the word five; maybe my three is drawn backward just for fun. Embellish your list by adding different colors, a title, and some flourishes.