Welcome 

Welcome to the 5th Painting on the Heart side of the Brain class.

This class is amazing! There! I said it! I am just so happy with all the information here: It is about so many subjects near and dear to my heart. For one, color interpretation and meanings. For another, smudging, and journeying to the Helping Ancestors. How to interpret the natural world through paint; the proportions of the human body and how to make quick and accurate sketches of people in motion; historic and cultural interpretations of color that can sometimes differ wildly. Maybe you will take the opportunity to take a look at what personal color symbolism you have made for yourself. Maybe by remembering what your favorite colors were as a child? What are they now? Do you have a reason why these are your favorites? Do these colors remind you of something specific in the outside world? Or are they connected to feelings and inner space? Asking these question is a start to identifying your own visual language and color symbolism.

The painting lesson 5:6 is encouraging you to meditate on the elements as you paint them. There are colors that occur naturally in everybody’s environment- those of the four elements. Clear sky is blue no matter where we live and green leaves are universal as well. Using these ‘natural colors’ I teach you how you can paint the elements, symbolic of the stardust we all are made of- fire, water, earth, and (illustrate) air. And there is a Tree of Life, too.

For the Shamanic Journey section, 5:4, we will journey to meet our Helping Ancestors. If you feel like asking them, perhaps they will help you with a deeper understanding of your own color choices and interpretations. For sure, different times and cultures have attached certain meanings to colors. Pink was a most masculine color once upon a time, wedding dresses weren’t always white and in China that(!) dress is red, and so forth. We will explore the cultural color phenomenon in Art theory, 5:5.

And for the Preparation and Supplies section-5:2- you can read how to smoke cleanse (aka smudging) and even find scientific proof that smudging is good for you. For the Drawing lesson 5:3 we are doing Gesture drawing and learning about Leonardo da Vinci’s ideal proportions as well as the normal deviations. Special guest is Jodie Stein, a psychiatrist and a shamanic practitioner from California who has found a passion for crafting smudging fans.5:8 has three Intuitive Painting videos to inspire your own intuitive paintings with more techniques. 5:9 will have the usual recap and review.

I hope you will enjoy going through this class as much as I have had putting it together. Do feel free to ask if you have any questions. Ever.

Lots of Love,

Susanne

Instagram Prompt

Take pictures of something that has a special meaning to you due to its color; it can be as personal as a piece of clothing you bought for its color or as universal as the color of the sky- then post in Instagram and use #paintingonheartsideofbrain.