Voices of Experience - Susan Blackwood

Late Afternoon Light 11 x 14” Oil

Admiring the freshness of stroke and gesture in Susan Blackwood’s paintings, we asked her how she manages to keep that spontaneity and not tighten up—a struggle many artists contend with. She offered a lesson that she uses with her students. First, paint the subject once, noting the amount of time spent in completing the painting. This first painting will allow you to prove to yourself that you can render a believable representation of your subject. Then, paint the painting again, in one quarter the amount of time originally spent. You no longer need to prove to yourself that you can do it. Instead, this allows you to develop your unique short-hand calligraphy, painting the essence of what you see.

Blackwood teaches painting and drawing throughout the USA, Europe, Pakistan, and the Bahamas. Her teaching style is to nurture the artist as well as to encourage growth in their individual style.

She began her paintin…