Flickin'

Flick paint adds some real character and movement to my gyotaku, fish prints.  It is also very energizing....paint goes everywhere.  Just found a lovely cobalt teal glob on the scarlet Japanese maple.....very artsy.  I use four different brushes so I can get all different sizes of splats, globs, spots, and teardrops....and sometimes messes.  It really is pretty scary to take a really great print and then fling paint at it in the hopes it will land in a pleasing way. Doesn't always happen...in fact I usually mess up a couple during this stage.  This time I got one very big, bright, gold glob under the fish that takes the eye right to it instead of allowing the viewer to see the fish eye first....lost my focal point!!! Darn...the flickin' fairies were not totally on my side today. One thing I have learned for sure is that to try and fix such a thing only makes it worse...but it is so hard not to try!

Some of my fondest memories of teaching art include flick painting the paper mache snakes with the 6th graders.  They were awesome at it...just let it fly with no worries!!!!