A friend told me that he’d like to know more about the art I make. I have to agree that it’s something I haven’t done that is a very big necessity in my line of work. So I’m going to add a new section to my blog: “All About (fill in the blank)” which will go into detail about the pieces I’ve worked on as well as all that’s new.
I thought it would be best to discuss the very first series I did when I decided to dive head first into my lifelong passion of creating art. You have to understand that I had just been laid off from a job as a social worker and I had a lot more time on my hands than I was used to. I was determined to make art but I was a bit unable to focus on exactly what to create. I really wanted to make landscapes but I just wasn’t getting them right and I had some space constraints. My easel was set up in the corner of our office/living room/dining room and creating something that was large was really not a possibility.
I was getting extremely frustrated with the landscapes because they weren’t going to my liking (only one worked out) and I really wanted to paint them larger but we had no room for me to go to bigger canvases. It was difficult and I was worried I was going about it all wrong. Then I started to stare out of the window and I noticed the birds. They would fly on and off this TV antenna on a building across the street. They were so quick and a casual observer might see them as unfocused but I found them fascinating. I started sketching them out (I must say -they aren’t the easiest models). I found a blank 12 x 12 canvas that I felt would be a great size to capture the birds. I knew I wanted to make the sky layered because I don’t see it as just blue – there are always undertones and sometimes a little drama. I decided the best way to do this was to thin out my acrylics with matte medium and paint many layers until I got it just right. While working on the sky, I took into consideration the placement of the bird on the antenna and what medium I would use to express them. I decided I would use conte crayon because it was much more delicate than charcoal or acrylic paint and it was easier to manipulate over the acrylic sky than ink. When I finished the first bird painting I decided to continue working on the same subject and in the same manner for a total of 10 paintings which seemed like a good number for my first official series.
I thought it would be best to discuss the very first series I did when I decided to dive head first into my lifelong passion of creating art. You have to understand that I had just been laid off from a job as a social worker and I had a lot more time on my hands than I was used to. I was determined to make art but I was a bit unable to focus on exactly what to create. I really wanted to make landscapes but I just wasn’t getting them right and I had some space constraints. My easel was set up in the corner of our office/living room/dining room and creating something that was large was really not a possibility.
I was getting extremely frustrated with the landscapes because they weren’t going to my liking (only one worked out) and I really wanted to paint them larger but we had no room for me to go to bigger canvases. It was difficult and I was worried I was going about it all wrong. Then I started to stare out of the window and I noticed the birds. They would fly on and off this TV antenna on a building across the street. They were so quick and a casual observer might see them as unfocused but I found them fascinating. I started sketching them out (I must say -they aren’t the easiest models). I found a blank 12 x 12 canvas that I felt would be a great size to capture the birds. I knew I wanted to make the sky layered because I don’t see it as just blue – there are always undertones and sometimes a little drama. I decided the best way to do this was to thin out my acrylics with matte medium and paint many layers until I got it just right. While working on the sky, I took into consideration the placement of the bird on the antenna and what medium I would use to express them. I decided I would use conte crayon because it was much more delicate than charcoal or acrylic paint and it was easier to manipulate over the acrylic sky than ink. When I finished the first bird painting I decided to continue working on the same subject and in the same manner for a total of 10 paintings which seemed like a good number for my first official series.
Thanks for the insight. It was really interesting and I look forward to future narratives.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea to do this Kinnier!
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