Wednesday, April 28, 2010

A busy week, with lots of stuff to show you.








So, I finally got around to trying out some abstract ideas, based on the book I bought: 


"Painting Abstracts: Ideas, Projects and Techniques".


I really like the first one:





It's a 10 x 12 inch oil. I like the way it developed, from simple random straight lines, I suddenly felt like curving some, and from there it reminded me of waves, which I then chose to enhance a little, while keeping it abstract. I am calling this one "Rocking the Boat".

After that I did another, adapting the exercise in the book to work with the materials I wanted - oils.


This one is an 8 x 8 inch oil. I am not as fond of this one, though my kids both like it. I haven't come up with a name for it yet. My daughter suggested "The devils rainbow", which I kind of like. My son suggested "Last Nights Omelette", another friend suggested "Pizza Nebula", and finally another friend suggested "Cupcake with Sprinkles". Clearly, my friends are hungry.

It's been a busy week for me. Aside from my foray into abstraction, I did a little 10 x 10 inch oil of a toucan, which I called "Toucan Do Better Than One"


I touched on some acrylic work:




I also kept up a few little pen & inks:



And, finally, a little bit of pastel work on coloured stock:


Anyway, please feel free to leave a comment, or I'd even love a suggestion for a name for that orange abstract painting. I will see you soon enough with more paintings/drawings!

By the way, if you are interested in purchasing any of my works, you can do so through my Artfire studio Here





Tuesday, April 20, 2010

My current works are abstracts cunningly disguised as landscapes. It is the Canadian way. - Ted Godwin

That title is for my friend Janet. I know she'll appreciate it. She loves to tease me about how I should let go, and not have my paintings be so "tight".

While I wait for my abstract art class to start, and while I ponder what I can do for my first exercise in abstract art from a book I am reading, I have found a handy little way to distract and amuse myself. I unpacked the technical pens along with the indian inks, and started to do some quick sketches.


Inspired at first by the Magnolia tree down the street from us, I started with this one.




From there I remembered being in Tahiti, and how the look and the smell of the flowers there was so intoxicating. So, I then did a little sketch of sunset plumerias.

After that I walked around the block and saw these intensely coloured red pointed tulips. They quickly became the subject of my 3rd sketch.




I enjoy the speed with which I can do these, and somehow just telling myself they are only little sketches allows me to feel free with them. I don't feel the need to tighten them up so much, and I think that is having a positive effect on the sketches and my work.

This week I plan to try my hand with the abstract techniques from my book, and I'll let you know if I find the book helpful, or not.

Oh, yeah, and as for my current abstracts being currently disguised as landscapes, here's one of those:




Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Abstraction is an esoteric language. - Eric Fischl

I have wanted to experiment with abstract art for a while. The problem was that I had no idea where to start. In the last two classes, our teacher started the process of introduction to abstract techniques though, and for that I am really grateful.

We started by covering the canvas with tear-outs form the newspaper, some burlap, and whatever colours occurred to us. I covered the canvas quickly, wanting to have movement and truthfully not really caring how exactly the paint was placed. I was tired, I'd had a bad day, and it was tremendously freeing to "not care", to simply allow it to become play. It was fun.

Once the model arrived, we started our portraits "on top" of the abstract, and wanting to keep the same energy going, I found myself drawn back to using the palette knife - in spite of feeling like the past two portraits I'd done with the knife had been miserable attempts. Granted, in those two attempts we'd been limited by the "rule" of having to choose just one palette knife and no use of brushes allowed. Here, I could switch it up a little, since the point was not the challenge of using just the knife.

I used a couple of knives, a small detail brush, my fingers, and I achieved a look that I am quite pleased with.



More importantly though, I enjoyed myself enough that I have made my choice for next semesters class: abstract art it will be. In the meantime, I have just received a book I'd ordered about abstract, so look for some more examples over the coming weeks, as I play with abstraction some more.