postmyart

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Hello out there! I haven’t been posting on tumblr so much recently because it seems no one is really using it anymore, and also have shifted to posting my wip on Instagram because people do tend to look at it there! But I love this artist’s aesthetic. The image in the cover photo caught my eye because of the primary color palette. Bonne journee!

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https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-marina-perez-simao-achieved-global-success-pandemic-year

Haven’t posted anything in a long time, but I really like this painter’s work. Saw something yesterday about Arthur Wesley Dow and Japonisme (and of course can’t find it now). More research needed.

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The one on the left is a sideways view of a floral blind contour, and the one on the right is a mountain ridge from last summer. I am recycling an old sketchbook, finding the juxtapositions interesting.

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So this happened yesterday. Another one that I had sketched previously.

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I have a feeling we’re not in Lac Daumesnil anymore...

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So I played around with some sketches that I did on watercolor paper at the lake a few weeks ago. Was thinking about a triptych, but these two turned out so differently, in fact the one on the left isn’t even internally consistent. But I feel a little constrained by the size and shape of the watercolor paper, I know, I know, says the person who’s been working in 5 x 7-inch sketchbooks for the past year and a half. Looking at abstract painting and thinking about the parts of these that I like. The idea that even completely “non-representational” paintings start with color, shape, line, marks. OTOH, I could see doing kind of a long, scroll-like series of the water’s edge.

I also did something I’ve never done before, which is watch a few watercolor tutorials on YouTube. Some are better than others, of course. Funny thing about watercolor is even though it can be really frustrating when you don’t get the results you have in mind, not knowing how it’s going to turn out is one of the things I enjoy about it. I think I’ll just keep going with these.

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Got really inspired this morning, by an old idea for a painting that I never tried to put down.

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Two new ideas: the one on the left is from life, earrings, rose petals, blood orange. The one on the right is an abstraction of a previous still life.

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Working on two paintings at once today.

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This tree in the back yard has been calling my name. It seems to have a higher concentration of branches than the others, maybe b/c it is really two trees directly in line, one behind the other. Anyway, I like the semi-blind contour lines on wet paper, especially the right side. Some part of it needs to be darker. I like the ghost lines showing through. Might add some leaves, but don’t want to ruin it. Maybe play around with textures & look back at Chinese painting techniques. I also really like how the branches go off the page. When I put it next to my other works in progress, it really stands out. And that’s a good thing. I also think it could be a better composition. Smack in the middle is boring, but maybe it would work if I did some foliage only on the left side, or it became part of a triptych or diptych. Maybe I’ll just do it again.

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So, I’m going to share something extremely personal about my creative process. Many people will tell you that painting is a dialogue. Sometimes I like to just let my intuition guide me 💯% without censorship because it forces me to release control and open up to new possibilities without focusing so much on trying to achieve a particular result. For example, an idea will pop into my head while I’m drawing, such as “blue line,” not necessarily for everything, but for the area I’m working on. So instead of reacting, “No, no, there’s no blue line there,” I’ll just do it and move on. And sometimes really just get into this beautiful flow where that internal critic gets entirely shut down, and all those little intuitions cohere and the process becomes organic. I find this refreshing and much more satisfying and even enjoyable than trying to intellectually analyze what I want to express by looking at other people’s work, scrolling through images, or researching concepts or techniques. I suppose in a way, it’s like being “in the zone,” where you’re so focused you’re just working automatically, but somehow different because of that conscious decision to take a risk and go on a journey rather than being married to the results. I feel like I have enough experience (and subconscious material) that I can sort of take my foot off the brakes sometimes. Also, interesting things happen, and I find myself wondering if this could be a process of moving into abstraction. Or something. Because you could also move toward expressionism, “Yellow!” or surrealism, “What if I put an angel there?” But it definitely feels like a good path to explore.

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It’s not quite right, but I like it. I’m getting there.

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I started sketching this tree when I get home from out morning dog walks. Mainly because I mean to bring my sketchbook, but always “forget.” It occurred to me this week after the Saturday Sketch Club that it’s good to try to remember what I see. I noticed that this particular tree tips to one side. Well, firstly I noticed that it was purple. A purple tree! There are a couple like this near the lake as well. I wonder if it is jacaranda, which we have a lot of in Florida. Today I noticed that this tree is at least as wide as it is tall, at the base. I’m working on a technique to express the blossoms. I think I will remember to bring my sketchbook next time.

I have been so focused on groupings of trees, or “treelines” you might say, in the landscape. But lately individual trees have really been calling out to me. It seems boring, or dumb to me, to just focus on one tree, but dammit, I’m going to do it anyway because I’m quite liking it, and it seems to be helping. I can always start adding more trees. I’m getting back into the groove of remembering what I learned in my Chinese painting lessons, as well as the zenlike concentration of it. I so miss that.

Also, I’m wanting to abstract more, but these aquarelle pencils are feeling too light (as well as getting really small!) And then I overwork. Maybe time to get out those oil pastels, or invest in some markers. I feel like I need to be satisfied with a representation of it before I can start to abstract or flatten it.