Painting with Saim

 

We met at Heisler Park at 9am.  Saim came drifting in, stopping along the way trying to take in all the possibilities for his painting.  He framed it in with his hands in between sips from his coffee.  As he greeted a couple of people he opened up his box and then started painting.  There was no preliminary drawing.

He quickly drew in the major elements of his painting and established the rocks in the water as the center of interest.  He spoke about the oppostion of light vs. dark, warm vs. cool colors, and large vs. small shapes.  The choices and diversity of the choices were what created an effective painting.  He made a point to stop and relax for a moment.  Saim made a point to tell us it is important to stop and breathe, to relax, to reflect, to step away and look at your painting to understand what is needed and where it is going.

Saim continued to refine his painting.  He made a point to evaluate the differences in the values, the colors, the shapes, and the warmth of the colors.  At this point I had to start painting.  I had a large surface and I did not have a lot of time-the meter was running and I only had two and a half hours left.  After a while Saim came over.  I asked his advice and he gave it to me.  He came a little while later and was very complimentary about my painting.  He said my painting style was exciting, dynamic, energetic, with a unique style.  As he patted me on the back he said keep up the great work.  WOW! How good did that feel.