Different Strokes Challenge: August 2021

[learning2paint]

So, if I want my “feeling” to be lovely..

And I choose the metaphor “love is a camera, full of memories”..

And I choose to paint the guitar and flowers inside a picture frame..

Am I doing it right?

[Charlies Mum Administrator (Maureen)]

First, let’s say you can’t do wrong … because you paint a picture, and that’s the point!
I think you’ve got a fair grasp though!…. And it will be good that you join us!  

I got an idea this morning … at breakfast! …. so I have a few notes down but not yet paint ( that’s a bit early, it’s only 3rd after all!!)

Cheers, Maureen

Forum projects: Plant Parade projects in the Florals/Botanicals forum , WDE in the All Media Art Events , Different Strokes in Acrylics forum .

[ozeanbay]

Learning2paint- Glad you can join us! I agree with all Maureen said.

Maureen-Great! You’ve got plenty of time.

 

[Merriweather]

So  in my pursuit of working out what was wanted for this challenge,  I followed a link to an article,  got annoyed because I could not read it all,  so I joined and paid to read it… Duh!!   I actually was so (for $6 bucks)  disappointed,  the article was not hugely helpful, and it was part of a study.com  learning,  which I realised this morning I had signed up for $29 per month ongoing…  gggrrrr.

That’ll teach me to go sniffing around sites that I have no business with…

Ozeanbay,     if I only knew what to do,  I just am not able to correlate the ref pic with some metaphor without changing the ref pic to something completely different.

Ah never mind… maybe it’s me on overload but the old brain up there  she’s not kicking in .

 

Cheers

Merri.

Painting is a complete distraction. I know of nothing which, without exhausting the body, more entirely absorbs the mind. Winston Churchill

[ozeanbay]

Merri– How awful about that website and the article! Can you cancel the subscription?

As to the challenge, next time I’ll make it much simpler! No worries if you’d like to skip this one.

However, if it helps inspire you (or others!) so you can join us, here are some ideas:

• Feeling of energy– metaphor of the ocean and use paint strokes like crashing of waves
• Feeling of coldness–metaphor of ice and paint with that color pallet
• Feeling of being in another world–metaphor of fairyland and paint tiny people living inside the guitar
• Feeling of comfy coffee shop–metaphor of hot cup of coffee and paint guitar in smooth coffee colors and use a hazy background

[Merriweather]

Yes thankyou ozeanbay,  I did manage to cancel the subscriptions… It was a site in the US  somewhere, and they were very obliging.

Thank you for the examples above…

I really like the guitar and the bougainvillea plant.    I shall give it a go.

Cheers

Merri

 

Painting is a complete distraction. I know of nothing which, without exhausting the body, more entirely absorbs the mind. Winston Churchill

[Virginia (vmrs) Administrator]

This is interesting. I’ve been busy with company including having babies staying in my house, I forgot how exhausting they are!  Once my brain cells have recovered a bit, I’ll give this a go.

 

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[ozeanbay]

Merri-I’m so glad the website was accomodating and that you’ll be joining us! Yay!

Virginia-Babies are wonderful gifts, but, yes, very exhausting! Glad you’ll be joining after recovering.

[ozeanbay]

Old_Hobbyist-For some reason, I’m just now seeing your note about defining the differences between analogies, metaphors, and similies. I agree that I struggle to know the difference! A poetry curriculum that I used said this about the difference between metaphors and similes:

• Similes compare two things that are basically different but have strong similarities. Similes use LIKE or AS to compare things. A simile says This is like That, or This behaves as That does.
• Metaphors also compare two unlike things, but without the words LIKE or AS. Metaphors simply say This is That.

[Virginia (vmrs) Administrator]

Our teacher told us this mnemonic..

A simile starts with as because it’s a comparison.

A metaphor starts with am because it’s a direct statement.

Note: metaphors are not meant to be taken literally because if I say “It’s raining cats and dogs” I don’t mean it literally of course.

Metaphors in literature are meant to convey a feeling, to paint a picture with words so to speak. Metaphors in art are the reverse, you’re using paint and compositional elements such as pattern, balance, movement, lighting, color etc. to convey a feeling instead of words.

 

We had to read The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes (which I still love) when I was in grade five to learn about metaphors. Mr Noyes loved his metaphors, the first verse alone had three.

“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.

The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.

The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor”

 

If we used the first metaphor “The wind was a torrent of darkness” we would paint the reference picture with darker colors, deeper shadows and paint the flowers so we could see the wind was blowing them, maybe having some of them falling away in the wind. Easy peasy, right.

Hopefully that helps, if you’re stuck, look up some weather metaphors which I think are the easiest to paint like..

“You are my sunshine”

“It’s raining cats and dogs”

“My memory is foggy”

and so on. Feel free to use any of those by the way!

 

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[Merriweather]

Virginia (vmrs) Administrator wrote:

“It’s raining cats and dogs”

Ha,   I love this…. ever since learning how it originated.  I was watching QI  ( a tele show)  and apparently back in the times when in UK people were poor in thatched roof houses, all crammed in with their animals…. the cats and dogs went up into the roof to sleep and be cosy.   But when it rained hard,  the cats and dogs came tumbling down with the rain…   hence the saying…

“Thatched Homes
One of the most amusing possibles (for which there is no evidence) comes from the idea that in 16th century Europe, animals that crawled into thatched homes to find shelter would fall out during a heavy rainstorm.”

I don’t believe this is has been proven as there are lots of arguments re the origins of this phrase…

Cheers

Merri

Painting is a complete distraction. I know of nothing which, without exhausting the body, more entirely absorbs the mind. Winston Churchill

[ozeanbay]

Oh, Virginia! Thank you for explaining it all so clearly and so well! I also really enjoy the “Highway Man,” yet had forgotten all its metaphors. I tend to get caught up in the story. You gave a great example for this challenge. Thank you for the tip about weather metaphors!

Merri–I had never heard the possible history behind “It’s raining cats and dogs.” How funny! I’m glad you shared.

[Virginia (vmrs) Administrator]

Merri, that’s hilarious! My dog would absolutely be the sort of dog to tumble through a roof and she would be happy about it too. She’s that kind of dog, haha.

I can kind of believe this because there was an incident at a resort years ago, I remember reading about it because it gave me the shivers so bad, it was about how during a storm there were scorpions falling through the thatched roof.  I imagine somewhere at sometime, someone’s cat or dog would have fallen through, they being of course far heavier than scorpions.

Ozeanbay, have you ever heard Lorenna McKennitt’s singing The Highwayman? I really like how she did it. Here’s the YouTube link if you’d like to listen to it.

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[Charlies Mum Administrator (Maureen)]

The thatched roof is the outer covering of the roof. The belief is that in very bad weather the outdoor animals were brought into the downstairs or living space and the domestic household went to the loft.  But I can believe that bad storms would open up the thatching and chase the household back down from the loft!

Susie Dent, a lexicographer and resident on our Countdown quiz show of words and numbers, has written a few books about words and their origins, if you’re  interested. Weird Words …..

I love these discussions!

Cheers, Maureen

Forum projects: Plant Parade projects in the Florals/Botanicals forum , WDE in the All Media Art Events , Different Strokes in Acrylics forum .

[tuscanny Moderator oil pastels]

I googled flowers guitar metaphor and came up with rock songs and flower power!

Christel

[Author]

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