Creativity Archives - Page 6 of 8

Challenges in Watercolor Painting | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 24

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Hi there, in today’s episode of the podcast I want to share with you some challenges I’m experiencing in watercolor.

A 2 Week Plateau

For the past two weeks or so I felt like things were’t connecting the way I wanted in my paintings.

I didn’t feel like my results were up to par, and I also felt extremely out of control with the medium.

I actually have a few ideas as to the reason for this.

Advancing to a Higher Level

Usually when I hit that kind of plateau, it means I’m about to advance to a higher level.

This is something I consistently noticed over the past few years.

It’s almost as if there is something crucial I need to learn in order to progress. I maxed out on all of my current skills, and it’s time to move on.

Going Autopilot & Using Gimmicks

Aside from that, I have an inkling of an idea as to what I need to improve.

I got to this after examining the areas where I have this issue, and the areas where I don’t.

I’m only experiencing this when painting large scenes, mainly cityscapes. I’m not experiencing this when working on portraits or pen sketches.

My main conclusion is this – In some areas I tend to go into autopilot when painting. And I don’t mean the good kind of autopilot (flow, in the zone, smooth-sailing).

I’m talking about doing things without truly observing the scene. Painting things as I THINK THEY APPEAR, rather than how they truly appear.

A Side Note About the Artist Curse

As a side note, I want to mention a concept I learned from Mark (Draw Mix Paint YouTube channel, THIS video).

He says we as artists can never enjoy our art like other viewers do. That’s because we see it slowly built up, and so it’s hard to be objective.

I’d also add to that, that we have a specific, “ideal” vision we may compare the result to. The viewer has no idea and doesn’t care. All they see is the art (:

The Solution

For the next few weeks, I’ll try disconnecting from external influences and other artists.

What I want to do is always focus on the subject at hand. To truly observe it and carefully study it.

To think, analyze, sketch, prepare and so on.

Sharing the Journey

I’m really happy to share these insights with you as I learn them.

I hope this will inspire others in the future. I really want to show how this is a challenging journey on the one hand, but how it shows promise on the other.

With enough practice and perseverance, you can master the medium.

Artist Corner

Today I talk about Dan Burt, an American watercolor painter.

Dan has a very unique style of painting, in which he applies many, MANY colors. He actually prepares multiple pools of paint, and slowly uses them all for painting.

He paints mainly in Texas, Mexico, Italy and Spain.

You can learn more about him here.

And here’s where you can find me (:

You can support me on Patreon

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

Words, Thoughts & Art | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 22

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In today’s episode I’ll talk about the connection between words, thoughts and art, and how we can use that connection to improve our art.

My BEST Painting Ever

A while ago I painted my best painting ever.

What made the difference was the fact that I was narrating the whole process to someone, as I was working on the painting.

I had no idea what impact it’s going to have. Talking and explaining the process, as I was going through it, actually made me think harder.

It made me consider different approaches for achieving the result I was interested in.

It made me re-think the very result I was interested in!

And most importantly – it slowed me down. It allowed me to take my time, and only hurry when necessary.

Thinking, Speaking and Writing

I recently watched a video discussing the connection between writing and thinking. The person in the video said that the best way to improve your thinking capabilities was actually to write.

I have to agree, based on my own experience. I write a lot and I definitely noticed a difference in my analytical skills, my critical thinking skills and the quality and depth of my thoughts in general.

I already talked about my writing habit, and how beneficial it was so far to my creativity and self-development.

It’s All Connected

Improving your writing will improve your thoughts. This, in turn, will also improve your painting skills.

The next time you want to paint something, imagine you have to explain to someone everything you are doing.

That someone is you! (;

See if that makes a difference. I’m definitely going to try and do that more.

Artist Corner

In this episode I talked about Thomas Schaller.

Aside from producing BEAUTIFUL paintings, Thomas has such a calm and nice teaching style. He started as an architect, and this quality really shows in his artwork. I highly recommend you check it out.

To learn more about him, check out this video: Thomas Schaller Interview

I found that I could really relate to many of the things he’s describing in this video.

And here’s where you can find me (:

You can support me on Patreon

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

Challenge Your Artistic Beliefs | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 21

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In today’s episode I want us to talk about how to constantly improve your art skills by challenging your artistic beliefs.

Inspiration VS Isolation

In my artistic journey, I deliberately put myself through 2 different time periods: inspiration and isolation. I alternate between these two on a regular basis.

Inspiration is the time to soak up new knowledge, and find a specific artist (or artists) to learn from.

Isolation is a consolidation period when I only focus on making art, and eliminate any external influences. I don’t look at other peoples’ works, and I try to deliberately disconnect from outside inspiration.

Challenging Your Artistic Beliefs

By revisiting the inspiration stage, you introduce “shock” to your system.

You find new things that “work” for you and your style. You learn of new ways to create the impression you want. New painting techniques and approaches.

This is the heart of this episode. I use this to challenge my own beliefs about the “right way” of creating art / painting / sketching.

This can relate to macro ideas like the entire painting process, or the preparation. It can also relate to micro ideas – such as specific techniques.

Going through the cycles

I find this cycle to be very rewarding. The Isolation period allows me to internalize all the new things I learned.

It’s precisely thanks to these two extremes that I was able to improve (as I believe) this quickly.

And this is what I wanted to share with you today (:

Artist Corner

In this episode I talk about David Howell.

David is a watercolor and oil painter. What fascinates me about his work is that he uses NO PENCIL.

He doesn’t draw before he paints. To be more accurate – he draws several preparatory sketches. But he doesn’t draw on the watercolor paper intended for the painting.

I find this amazing and refreshing. His work also has a very gentle feel to it, and a great sense of light.

He does a lot of seascapes and dock scenes. You can read more about him HERE.

Also check out this interesting video on YouTube.

And here’s where you can find me (:

You can support me on Patreon

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

Impressionism Painting | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 20

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In the picture above is an Edward Seago study I did a while ago

Impressionism Painting

Impressionistic paintings have always attracted me, from the moment I discovered the genre.

I always loved the ability to represent what you see on paper, with the added value of your own interpretive skills, and your special flare.

The Zbukvices and the Castagnets

Immediately after discovering Joseph Zbukvic and Alvaro castagnet I was HOOKED.

I started seeking out similar artists, and paintings in that loose impressionistic style.

I also attempted painting in this style, which was a huge challenge (and still is!).

Edward Seago

Another artist I recently discovered that does impressionism in both OILS and watercolor, is Edward Seago.

He will probably be responsible for me getting into oils in some point in the not-so-far future (;

What Makes Good Impressionistic Art

I have my own opinion about what makes a good impressionistic painting.

This is my opinion, and I could be wrong about some things, or missing others. This is by no means a conclusive list.

Here are some things I noticed so far:

Accurate drawing – This is a must. This is the basis for creating a realistic impression of what you see.

Good sense of light and shadow – This is the second most-important item on my list. I believe this is as important as an accurate drawing.

We see the world in the form of light and shadow, and portraying accurate values is the key for creating realism.

Simplification and abstraction – Here shines the true spirit of impressionism. We are not trying to include every single detail we see.

We simplify things for the viewer, including only what’s ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. And the levels to which we simplify is a personal / style-related choice, but the impression we create still resembles the subject to a high degree.

Colorful / harmonious palette – To me color is secondary, but in some ways it can significantly enhance a painting.

When the colors work well together the good painting turns into a fantastic celebration of mood, atmosphere and temperature.

How to learn impressionism painting & how to improve

This is a question I don’t really have an answer for. I’m still learning this myself. However – there are some habits I noticed have been helping me with this.

Painting from live reference – This means either painting real objects inside, or real scenery outside. It means NOT working from photos.

I cannot stress enough how important field work is. It is an integral part of improving your visual language, which is what we are doing here, after all.

I also think it’s important, from time to time, to work from photos. The reason is that you can be more relaxed, well-organized, and practice the techniques.

Outside you have to hurry, the light is constantly moving and changing, and things are dynamic. Inside you don’t have that issue.

Learning from others – The way I approached learning this is by constantly alternating between two mindsets – inspiration and isolation.

What I practically do is focus for a while on learning from one specific artist who’s work I enjoy. The time-frame for this can range from two weeks to two months. I call this the inspiration period.

Then, I shift into isolation. I ONLY focus on painting what I see, as I see it. I don’t watch YouTube videos. I don’t look at other peoples’ art. I only focus on MY OWN WORK.

And then I go back to inspiration for a while, and the cycle begins again.

I find this REALLY helps me to soak up inspiration and knowledge, and then internalize everything and combine it with MY OWN style.

Conclusion

And this is everything I wanted to share!

Like every new skill, it can be a bit of a challenge. But with enough consistency you get the ball rolling and before you know it – you are an expert!

I hope you enjoyed this one (:

Artist Corner

Today we talked about Edward Seago. He was an amazing English painter who worked in both oils and watercolor.

He lived from 1910 to 1974, and led an interesting life. He was quite close to the royal family, and was even invited on a tour to the Antarctic with prince Phillip.

He produced there what is considered his best work. I personally love both his oil paintings and his watercolors. He had an amazing way of simplifying what he sees.

You can read more about him on Wikipedia – Edward Seago

And here is a Google Images search for you to browse and enjoy

And here’s where you can find me (:

You can support me on Patreon

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3

How to Become Super-Creative Using Frequency | Liron Yanconsky’s Podcast – Episode 19

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Hi there! Liron here. In this episode I want to talk to you about how to become much MUCH more creative using frequency.

Creativity and Frequency

I slowly learn more and more how creativity and frequency of creation are intertwined.

And I’m not talking about the obvious “more frequent practice = getting better faster”. I’m talking about how practicing more frequently improves you in the SHORT TERM as well.

I noticed my brain is a magician. The more ideas I ask of it, the more ideas I get. The more frequently I publish videos, the more ideas my brain produces.

This is quite different from the mindset I had in the past. I was afraid to post things too frequently, so that I don’t “run out of ideas”.

That’s just the opposite of what really works!

How this can help you

Whatever you are doing on a regular basis – I would suggest playing around with its frequency.

Do you sketch once every few days? Try sketching EVERY day. See where it takes you.

This really is all about experimentation.

I find this to be true about ideas as well. The more I sit down to think about video, podcast or painting ideas – the more new ideas I get.

Exponentially!

The more you give – the more you receive

I really think of this as a law of nature.

The more courage you have to share more and more, and work on your skills more and more – the more you are rewarded.

The more you give courageously, the more the world gives back to you (:

Artist Corner

In this episode we talked about Gregory Packard.

He is an amazing American impressionist artist. What immediately caught my attention with his works is how COLORFUL they are!

If you’ve been following me for a while you know how I’m attracted to colorful and realistic artworks.

You can see more of his work in his website.

Conclusion

And this is it for today’s episode. I hope you enjoyed it!

Here’s where to find me:

Here you can support me on Patreon

Check out my YouTube Channel – Liron Yanconsky

Or ask me questions on Instagram – @LironYanIL or Snapchat – @LironYan3.