While working on my main canvases, I've been plopping the extra paint onto separate canvases lately to see what might appear. I'm also trying to work out suggestions I get from fellow artists to improve the expression in my work. These are experimentations and I am painting them with the acceptance that I will most … Continue reading Getting Tired – Working Out Some Stuff…
The Artist Self – Two – A Surprising Start
The big question was whether to start on the figure or the background... one will inevitably influence the other. I was really enjoying how the figure looked in simple black lines, so I started on the outside. I did my best to not overthink it and working with wet-on-wet paint really helped. Now I still … Continue reading The Artist Self – Two – A Surprising Start
The Artist Self – One – Do What Talks to You…
Sometimes going in a new direction brings us back to ourselves. The last piece I painted (A Crowd of Me) left me a little discouraged and a lot determined to do some reflection. While I got some positive feedback from my support clan (aka my amazing wife and daughter), I still felt I didn't do … Continue reading The Artist Self – One – Do What Talks to You…
A Crowd of Me – I might have overworked it, but I’m stoping here.
I'm not sure where I lost track of what I was doing in this one. I saw the possible flaws I wanted to correct and even felt I knew what to do to correct them, but as soon as I started tom paint them in, I hesitated and overthought the process. I just kept blending … Continue reading A Crowd of Me – I might have overworked it, but I’m stoping here.
A Crowd of Me – Four – Who Knew Hair Was So Transformative?
Seriously though, I had no idea how much the hair would change the composition. You really need to go back to yesterday's post and compare the images. (I'll put them side-by-side below). I was plowing on loads of paint to diversify and enrich the volumes of the different bodies and I knew I'd have to … Continue reading A Crowd of Me – Four – Who Knew Hair Was So Transformative?
A Crowd of Me – Three – It feels oddly cartoonish, for now…
While I'm enjoying the annotated feel of this and how it feels cartoonishly alien, it isn't what I was intending. It feels... incongruous. Some of the faces aren't in the same style or emotional range. At this stage, I feel that I've fallen back on my older drawing style and not kept with the spontaneous … Continue reading A Crowd of Me – Three – It feels oddly cartoonish, for now…
A Crowd of Me – Two: I see some change in perspective
Yesterday, I mentioned that I originally intended to input my self-portrait as only one of the crowd. I wanted to be the small face in the back, right of the composition... the spectator behind the crowd, looking at whatever they were looking at. Hmmm... I wonder if this means I have a secret desire to … Continue reading A Crowd of Me – Two: I see some change in perspective
A Crowd of Me – One
Staring at the big (30" x 30"), white canvas is often the most stressful part of my process. How do I start? Where do I start? That very first mark is so important to me that I find myself in a battle against my fears and insecurities. A multitude of voices clamour for dominance in … Continue reading A Crowd of Me – One
Tourism Under The Windowed Wall – I found myself in this one
Previous Post on this: Tourist Under The Windowed Wall – Opening another feeling I'm still paying with style and ideas from David Park's work. I've decided to walk out of my comfort zone step-by-step and close off the inspiration images while painting. It helps me see the composition differently when I let it get coloured … Continue reading Tourism Under The Windowed Wall – I found myself in this one
Tourist Under The Windowed Wall – Opening another feeling
I just couldn't see how to keep the hat and still have it feel the way I wanted. The mood was off, so the hat had to go. As you see it now is much closer. It still feels illustrative and I'm not are I want that feeling. I let this rest for a few … Continue reading Tourist Under The Windowed Wall – Opening another feeling
The New Renaissance Mindset 