Freedom to Expand Your Style

Intro by Skip Cohen

Suzette Allen never slows down on sharing content on each of her different blogs. Reading this one recently got me thinking about the downtime we’re all dealing with. While it was hardly planned or expected, the pandemic has created an interesting opportunity for all of us.

I’m not suggesting it’s the silver lining to the pain we’ve all endured, along with the stress of fear and loss of freedom during the last six months. But it has given us all something we never have enough of…TIME!

To Suzette’s point, use the time to grow. Expand your skillset into areas you’ve never experienced. Step outside your comfort zone because that’s where you’ll find the most growth!

By Suzette Allen

Freedom is a hot topic these days….freedom of speech, freedom from control, freedom to BE who we want to be. (and we won’t get any more political than that!) But when we think about our art, we need to remember we have the freedom to express ourselves however we want. In huge, loose strokes, or in fine detail! You get to decide your style.

As a photographer, I have always marveled at how artists try to make their paintings so detailed and accurate, they almost look like photos- if they do, then they must be really good, right? But don’t photographers do the same? Don’t we try to make our photos almost look painterly? What is it about trying to look like what we are not? Who are we trying to please?

I love to paint, and I have had to force myself to “be sloppy” for years to get out of the habit of such precise painting that you can’t even see it!! I finally feel like I have gotten out of that habit and I feel the freedom to paint away details, leaving broad strokes; suggestions of shapes, of color blocks and indistinct smears. It makes me really happy to loosely describe my image with just color and shape.

I remember forcing myself years ago, to paint as fast and sloppy as I could, just to force myself out of my ‘perfect photo box’. I guess I worried it didn’t look like it was “supposed to look”. But WHO determines how it is supposed to look? Isn’t it the artist? Yes! And we have the freedom to paint our images and tell our visual stories however detailed or vague as we want. We sometimes just need to give ourselves permission.

I love the messy, loose strokes of color that make up this gorgeous shot from Southern California. The feeling is free, cool and interesting; not so descriptive we get tangle

Captured at the Toyota Grand Prix, in Long Beach, California on a Lumix G9, Painted with PhotoshopCC MixerBrushes. @Lumix #wherelumixgoes #everywherewithme @Bayphotolab @watercolorfinartprint @createwithsuzette #SEEinspired