“Repetition is the mother of all learning”

The past couple of weeks I’ve been painting glasses of water.

I’m interested in the distortion of the cloth’s pattern seen through the water, and the challenge of capturing the effect of light on both the glass and the liquid.

Having a repetitive subject like this to sink my teeth into is probably one of the best ways for me to learn and to grow (think scales on the piano). But in order to maintain interest it’s just as important that there is sufficient variety and an adequately steep challenge.

I’m finding enough similarity between subjects that I am starting to sense a recurring order and structure with each new sketch, while the variables of pattern and color between them (as well as the desire for improvement) is the substance that is keeping me thoroughly engaged.

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I searched a few of my heroes to see what they did with the subject

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Check out Marc Taro Holmes answer to the question: “When practicing drawing, do you recommended drawing the same thing till it becomes perfect or drawing different things every day?” 

Also – if you are relatively local, I just noticed that Marc will be giving the workshop “Still Life in Watercolor”  on December 2nd at the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe.