Rebellious student    April 13, 2012    Greetings!    Yesterday, Richard Alm of Vancouver, B.C. wrote, "I recently completed 151 of the 300 11" x 14"s you requested as part of the "Genn School of Go-To-Your-Room." I'm getting very itchy to do some larger ones. Do you permit making larger ones from the better of your smaller ones before the 300 have been completed?"    Thanks, Richard. When we last spoke I also suggested you follow your nose and don't pay too much attention to any instructor, including me. I thought I also implied that those small paintings might be done concomitantly with any other work you might have in mind. If I missed this point, I apologize. We've put a selection of Richard's sketches at the top of the current clickback.    As an artist I believe in free will--but I also believe in preparatory exercises. Whether a series of exploratory roughs, comps, a-painting-a-day, or thumbnails before a more ambitious project, sketches pave the way to professionalism. Here's a reminder of what sketches can do for you:    + Make your mistakes smaller, not larger. + By including "notan" sketches (simple black and white patterns) you learn to find better compositions. + Discover the best angles, aspects and forms of a subject. + Learn to work fresher and looser so you'll have less investment and obligation.  + Ask yourself, "What could be?" and have more fun wherever you go. + Make more sense of your visual world and its manifestation in your art. Preparatory sketches help you understand what you are trying to do while helping you to feel less precious about your work. Small works tend to be automatically stronger. For one thing they seem to more easily take up the whole picture plane. Further, you need not make your smaller works too comprehensive (This may be a problem with your sketches, Richard--they look like they're trying to burst their britches and become larger paintings). Being a basically contrary person myself, I find it useful to ask, "What do I want to do today?" A sketch in the cold grey light of dawn often takes just a few minutes to find the way. Big, small, difficult, easy--the day's karma appears like a genie. Then there's nothing to it but to do it. Best regards,    Robert PS: "Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory." (Miguel de Cervantes) "Failure to prepare is preparing to fail." (Benjamin Franklin) Esoterica: Life is an exercise, but it's not a rehearsal. Many artists find that the sketch stage is just as vital and rewarding as themagnum opus that comes later. Sketches, to the dismay of many artists, may even be superior in quality. Particularly in rough form, it's important to cave in to your most expedient inclinations, happiest pathways and most endearing sensibilities. "Preparation does not take away any of the enthusiasm of the final painting. In fact, the preliminaries in color and tonal studies free up the artist for an unbridled yet focused trip to the finish." (Harley Brown) Current Clickback: "The happiness factor" looks at happiness and togetherness. Your comments will be appreciated. Read this letter online and share your thoughts on preparing to paint by sketching. Live comments are welcome. Direct, illustratable comments can be made at rgenn@saraphina.com The Art Show Calendar: If you or your group has a show coming up, put an illustrated announcement on The Painter's Keys site. The longer it's up, the more people will see it. Your announcement will be shown until the last day of your show. The Workshop Calendar: Here is a selection of workshops and seminars laid out in chronological order that will stimulate, teach, mentor, take you to foreign lands or just down the street. Many of these workshops are recommended by Robert and friends. Incidentally, if you are planning a workshop and have photos of happy people working, feel free to send them to us and we'll include a selection in the workshops feature at no extra charge. The Painter's Post: Every day new material is going into this feature. Links to art info, ideas, inspiration and all kinds of creative fun can be found in this online arts aggregator. If a friend is trying to subscribe to the Twice-Weekly Letter via Constant Contact, please let her or him know that confirmation is required and to reply to Constant Contact's confirmation email. You can also follow Robert's valuable insights and see further feedback on Facebook and Twitter Richard Alm wouldn't mind a second opinion at almedti@telus.net Featured Responses: Alternative to the instant Live Comments, Featured Responses are illustrated and edited for content. If you would like to submit your own for possible inclusion, please do so. Just click 'reply' on this letter or write to rgenn@saraphina.com Yes, please go ahead and forward this letter to a friend. This does not mean that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about it by going to The Painter's Keys website. Subscribe Free! Your name and email address will be kept safe. To Unsubscribe or Change Your Email Address, please click Safe Unsubscribe or Update Profile/Email Address links found at the bottom of this email. (c) Copyright 2012 Robert Genn. If you wish to copy this material to other publications or mail lists, please ask for permission by writingrgenn@saraphina.com. Thanks for your friendship.

The happiness factor April 9, 2012 Greetings! According to the recently released UN World Happiness Report, Canada's population is the fifth happiest in the world. Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands, in that order, are happier. The USA ranks 11th, the UK 18th. According to the report, Togo, Benin, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone had the most unhappy people.    Apart from income, the greatest determinants of human happiness are family ties and tribal instincts. A lot has been made of the fact that the happiest nations are Northern ones where the citizens struggle together against an inclement environment. If this were true it seems to me the Russians would be rated happier, but they're not. The only time you see them get up on the table and dance is after 14 vodkas. And, as everyone knows, Mexican babies are by far the happiest. Check out a Mexican day care sometime. Further, if tribalism is so hot, you'd think some of the Middle Eastern nations would be up there, too.    Statistics tell us that happy nations have a lot of clubs. Canada is awash with them. What self-respecting prairie town doesn't have a quilting group? What church basement in the Great White North doesn't have a Thursday Painting and Sketch Club where nodders endure a "short meeting and financial report" before the night's featured demo-doer? We Canucks are such a happy bunch.    But what about the art that issues from all this glee? Do tribalism and togetherness improve creative quality? Some people will swear on a stack of Robert's Rules of Order that they do. Others are not so sure. In my humble observation, artists who struggle on their own generally do best. Are these just a few of the unhappy loners who are chasing their tails, hell bent on throwing a monkey wrench into our uncontrolled laughing? It seems to me the best club is the Great Universal Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Painters Dead and Alive (GUBSPDA). It's sort of virtual but it meets 24/7. The last person who signed up for these free Twice-Weekly Letters at one minute to midnight yesterday was Shailaja Poddar of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Somehow I think we are all a bit happier when we admit we're in this together. Best regards, Robert PS: "It's not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment, it's in the happiness of pursuit." (Denis Waitley) Esoterica: Art clubs and guilds are primarily a North American and UK phenomenon, although some other nations are catching on. A club's main thrusts are mutual learning, gentle competition, networking and marketing. Clubs tend to neutralize the traditional model of rugged individualism and egocentricity that many now see as a hazard to the growth of quality and integrity. In clubs, in theory, all is fair. The strong are encouraged to encourage the weak until the weak become strong. That's when the formerly weak tend to leave the happy club and strike out on their own. Current Clickback: "Does creative capability decline?" questions the process of aging and creative ability. Your comments will be appreciated. Read this letter online and share your thoughts about the chance of happiness. Live comments are welcome. Direct, illustratable comments can be made at rgenn@saraphina.com The Art Show Calendar: If you or your group has a show coming up, put an illustrated announcement on The Painter's Keys site. The longer it's up, the more people will see it. Your announcement will be shown until the last day of your show. The Workshop Calendar: Here is a selection of workshops and seminars laid out in chronological order that will stimulate, teach, mentor, take you to foreign lands or just down the street. Many of these workshops are recommended by Robert and friends. Incidentally, if you are planning a workshop and have photos of happy people working, feel free to send them to us and we'll include a selection in the workshops feature at no extra charge. The Painter's Post: Every day new material is going into this feature. Links to art info, ideas, inspiration and all kinds of creative fun can be found in this online arts aggregator. If a friend is trying to subscribe to the Twice-Weekly Letter via Constant Contact, please let her or him know that confirmation is required and to reply to Constant Contact's confirmation email. You can also follow Robert's valuable insights and see further feedback on Facebook and Twitter Please welcome Shailaja Poddar at Shailaja1809@gmail.com  Featured Responses: Alternative to the instant Live Comments, Featured Responses are illustrated and edited for content. If you would like to submit your own for possible inclusion, please do so. Just click 'reply' on this letter or write to rgenn@saraphina.com Yes, please go ahead and forward this letter to a friend. This does not mean that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about it by going to The Painter's Keys website. Subscribe Free! Your name and email address will be kept safe. To Unsubscribe or Change Your Email Address, please click Safe Unsubscribe or Update Profile/Email Address links found at the bottom of this email. (c) Copyright 2012 Robert Genn. If you wish to copy this material to other publications or mail lists, please ask for permission by writingrgenn@saraphina.com. Thanks for your friendship.

Springtime in New York

How are you feeling today?