We debuted our new Creativity Workshop column a few months ago with a challenge from
Nita Leland and since then we've been watching our mailbox for news from our readers. We've already published four paintings inspired by the first installation of the column on our
website. And now we're sifting through the submissions inspired by
Cathy Johnson's Creativity Workshop Activity (appearing in the
December issue of the magazine). If you haven't already sent us your work, there's still plenty of time to get cracking. The deadline is December 20, 2007. Johnson challenges us to simplify, simplify with her activity:
Use Color as a ToolOne way to simplify your work is to let color do it for you. Just because your subject may contain all the colors of the rainbow in a dozen different variations, doesn’t mean you have to paint it that way. Decide which colors dominate the scene, and eliminate most of the others. Let color give your work punch; let it create a mood, whether festive or serene. Be creative with color and choose those that expresses your mood. Just remember to keep it simple. Choose a monochromatic color scheme, with tints and shades (lights and darks) of a single color; try an analogous color, with colors that are next to one another on the color wheel; or use the complements by letting them vibrate against one another, or by muting them through mixing.
Send
a slide, photograph or a disc containing a digital image of your
painting to Watercolor Magic, Creativity Workshop, Simplification
Activity, 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati OH 45236. (Note: include a
self-addressed, stamped envelope if you’d like us to return your
submission.)
Cathy Johnson's Missouri Landscape, Fall is pictured above.