Julie Gilbert Pollard

Phoenix-based oil painter, watercolor artist, teacher and author

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Learning to be Objective About your Own Paintings is so Important – and so Difficult!

April 21, 2014 by Julie Gilbert Pollard

I’ve been painting most of my life about half that time professionally, and it’s still so hard to see my paintings in an objective light. Especially when the painting is fresh, I seem to have a love/hate relationship with it. It’s either great or awful, neither viewpoint being realistic or objective. I think it’s the “not being able to see the forest for the trees” syndrome. It’s why we learn to evaluate our work from a distance, in a mirror, upside down, and even better, after some time has passed whatever it takes to give us a different perspective – for us to “see” it as it really is without that emotional veil that obscures both its flaws and/or beauties.

When I truly “see: the painting and realize – and accept – that a painting needs some adjustments I then figure out in a very methodical way how to accomplish those corrections. Here are examples in water color and oil:

Farmer’s Market Bouquet before pictureFarmer’s Market Bouquet middway picture

In this watercolor (seen in Watercolor Unleashed, New Directions for Traditional Painting Techniques – North Light 2013) the detail on the left shows an area of the background that had gotten muddier that I liked, so I scrubbed it out (detail on right) in order to re-paint the area. It wasn’t all that horrible, but I didn’t like it! The finished painting is shown below. looking back on it now, I think I could have improved it even more. If it comes back to me from Esprit Décor Gallery, maybe I’ll work on it again. I’m not sure any painting is truly finished until it’s out of our hands – as in sold!

Farmer’s Market Bouquet after picture

Farmer’s Market Bouquet
watercolor on Arches 300# CP
11″X14″

In the oil painting below you can see that the painting was well underway – even signed! – when I suddenly comprehended that the boulder on the right was a terribly awkward and overpowering shape, even though it’s exactly the way it was in nature. Remaining true to “that’s the way it was” stopped the eye from moving through the painting. On canvas, reality wasn’t “working”. My painting needed to be more appealing more eye-catching!

After analyzing the situation, I scraped paint off the top half of the boulder and repainted it, painting the stream and another rock in to fill the space behind it – in my view a huge improvement!

The Bubbly before picture

The Bubbly after picture

The Bubbly
oil on canvas
14×11

Was my altered image “working”? Yes – it sold! (Sold by Windrush Gallery in Sedona.)

The point is that when there’s room for improvement and you can figure out how to accomplish that improvement, do it. We learn a lot that way and if that particular painting isn’t improved – sometimes they’re ruined! – in the long run our work improves because that’s one way we “raise the bar” for our own growth.

Happy Painting!

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Gallery LInks

Esprit Decor Gallery & Framing
Google MapEsprit Decor Gallery & Framing
5555 North 7th Street, Suite 122
Phoenix, AZ 85014

Phone: (602) 248-0700
www.espritdecor.com
RAKU Gallery
Google MapRaku Gallery
250 Hull Avenue
Jerome, AZ 86331

Phone: (928) 639-0239
www.rakugallery.com
Sedona Arts Center
Google MapSedona Arts Center
15 Art Barn Road
Sedona, AZ 86336

Phone: (928) 282-3809
www.sedonaartscenter.com

My Teaching Philosophy

My goal is to individualize instruction as much as possible. I introduce the basics to the beginning student and work with the more advanced student in gaining a more solid knowledge of those same basic techniques, along with the all-important principles and elements of design. I always try to present material in a logical, practical manner, along with a large dose of encouragement with emphasis on motivation and personal taste. In class, beginning painters will work in a structured manner and ALL levels are encouraged to experiment and practice as much as possible in order to build confidence and experience with methods and materials. Workshops generally focus on a method or subject, while weekly classes may offer basic technique or independent projects with guidance as needed and “class projects” as requested. Whatever the venue, my over-riding objective is to support and assist each person in his or her search for individual artistic personality.

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Julie gilbert Pollard

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Email: JulieGilbertPollard@cox.net
Phone: 623-849-2504
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