There's an exercise that I have my watercolor students do in mid-session that I use for an illustration of INSIGHT. They find a magazine photo of their choice, crumple it up, glue it on the center of a piece of watercolor paper. Then, employing the various techniques that they've learned so far in our class, they extend the picture out from the photo onto the rest of the paper.
It's an exercise that helps train their eyes to see a scene from a perspective of "how can I get that effect in watercolor?" When they finish, often they have a better sense of how to employ the new techniques. It also can produce a final product that creates an illusion of moving from blurriness to being in focus. So, as they have painted from the inner photo outward...the final piece draws the viewer's eye from outward to inward focus.
One of my students very wisely observed that we often need to be "crumpled up" before we can gain insight! I definately can relate!
I'm in Day 5 of my True Color rediscovery and reshaping...my food plan has been good so far. I've managed to stay away from white processed foods, and eaten varieties of color. I'm also trying to use color (since I love it so much!) as a substitute "palette." Rather than the sense of taste and the palette of my mouth...I'm trying to use my eyes and what pleases my aestetic sensibilities.
I'm trying to find ways to "come into focus" in the center of my life, so I can extend that focus outward...like the watercolor paintings. I hope the result will be for others to look with me, and find their blurry ambiguities can become more focused as well.
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