Work Like a Dog
My Favorite Models
I’m not an animal painter by vocation. I think I have painted only four or five dog portraits for money in my entire career. I just like painting them. It is a joy because, they, are a joy. No malice, no guile, just living day-to-day taking what comes, or doesn’t. I would like to live like that more often and I do—when I’m painting. The rest of the time, not so much. So whenever I get the chance, I whole-heartedly recommend novice painters to paint their animals. Dogs and cats, especially, can lie still for vast amounts of time—and then roll over. It is a great way to learn how to paint fur and hair quickly with the minimum of strokes, or, go wild and paint every curl on a standard poodle. I think that what we are doing when we paint a living being is extending our awareness and our compassion beyond ourselves.
This one-pointed focus has a double benefit physiologically. Admiring can release endorphins in the pleasure center of our brains. At the same time, increased blood flow to the visual and motor cortexes and wherever awareness and compassion reside has been shown to make our brains bigger by adding new neurons and blood supplies in those areas—more every time we practice. And all of a sudden, we can see more and better. Studies using FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) show that this same process is also at work when we learn anything - musical instruments, dance, poetry, foreign languages, flying a plane, how to clone your favorite pet and so on.
The process doesn’t occur overnight, of course—we require some training time first. But over the tiny span of six months practicing and focusing on learning a skill—maybe painting dogs perhaps—the brain grows measurably. (We should really be paying the dog for this.) As cosmic bargains go, this is a good one. A relatively small input generates a gain way beyond belief. We can actually get smarter by simply noticing and painting the living things all around us. Flowers, especially. Mysteriously beautiful beyond any reason I kind find. Food for more thought.
Paint The Arrangement (above) while watching the watercolor workshop Zoom video with John Hulsey. Go to The Artist’s Road Store to purchase the edited recording. Upon purchase, you will receive a link to the workshop recording on Vimeo and the reference photo.
“Class was marvelous, as was your teaching, John. Thank you!!- Sharon D.
“It turned out beautifully! This was another intense learning session...just as it should be”. Jennifer T.