Tag: Painting

Paint

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Paint is a wonderful thing,  a riot of colours, a rainbow of tones.

Acrylic for ease of colour use, oil paint for staying damp to ease blending. Water colours for transparency and simplicity, Gouache for more opaque colours over watercolour. The types of paint are fascinating. Each has its own method and technique. Even paints such as emulsion and gloss can be used in Art, and of course spray cans are used for graffiti.

From millennia ago humans have made marks, on cave walls, on rocks, papyrus and paper. Canvas and screens. The need to make pictures seems to have been with us almost from the cradle. Children learn to draw at an early age. Scribbling, then with improved hand eye coordination comes drawing, painting, even writing. For what is language, it is an abstract representation of what was once pictograms. Egyptian hieroglyphics show the link between art and language.

Paint and art invade our society. Art and colour are used to design every day objects. Architecture is a form of art. We need artists and painters in our visual society. Art is there in video games, special effects, what colour your clothes or car will be next season. What palette you decide to use to decorate weddings and birthdays. The list is almost endless….

 

Maiden castle

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This is a painting of maiden castle that I painted a few years ago.  The place is an ancient monument, an iron age hill fort, near Dorchester in Dorset which is in the south of England.

The dancing figure in the foreground is meant to signify the age of the place. Her bones, and the rabbit skull below her are collapsing into the ground, what would archaeologists find if they dug there. The slopes of the hill fort are built up in steep steps. Like huge waves breaking on the coast of an island. The grass really does like to grow in waves and clumps.

So why did I paint it? I don’t know. Except that the place is full of mystery and ancient history. I probably would just paint the landscape if I was doing it now, but I’m glad I added the figure.

Poppy painting

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This is a painting I did 6 years ago outside in the garden. I love these large poppies. I had decided to  paint outside because it was a beautiful day and why not paint in situ instead of from a photo. I think then decided to take photos of the process. I guess I painted the poppy first as it was the focal point of the painting.

I added all the other flowers to make it more interesting.  One of the things with creating art is the idea if artistic licence. The other flowers were in different parts of the garden and I wanted to add their colours to the mix.

I’m not sure whether I like this painting, its a bit flat, maybe I should have used more shading as the colours are all of very similar tones, but I was looking at a shady garden and the light was changing over the time it took to paint it. it reminds me of an illustration in a book or magazine, I almost coukd see it next to a children’s story.

I love to paint, and it is always a challenge to improve.

Colour contrasts….

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You might have heard of the colour wheel.. a rainbow of colours running from red to orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

Red, Blue and Yellow are known as primary colours. These are the ones you can mix together to get Orange (yellow and red) Purple  (blue and red) and finally Green (blue and yellow)

There are mixtures that can also make all the different colours of the spectrum.

If you know the theory of colour you also know White is all colours mixed together. This is why if you put a prism of glass in a beam of sunlight it will split the white into all of the colours of a rainbow. Newton did this experiment and helped us understand the nature if light.

On the other hand, Black is an absence of colour, all the colours that hit a black surface are absorbed, they don’t reflect back to your eyes. If you mix up all the colours of the spectrum you tend to get Brown, not as you might expect, Black.

Did you know there are complementary colours? If you spread the primary and secondary colours around a circle split into 6 equal segments you can see how the primary colours are next to one’s of a mixture of them and the next primary. So the wheel ends up with the most contrasting (complementary) colour directly opposite each other.

These are

red/green

yellow/purple

blue/orange

These colour combinations seem to sing, like a discordant chord they bounce off each other.

Some famous artists like Cezanne and Van Gogh would exploit these clashing colours to create strong images. Van Gogh’s blue skies contrasting with the orange of sunflowers makes the paintings seem to glow. Cezanne’s use of green vegetation and red soil has a similar effect.

So sometimes when I paint or draw I will chose to use complementary colours to see what I can create from them.

Of course there are other colours out there. ..the author Terry Pratchett wrote about Octarine, the eighth colour of the rainbow, I think he said it was a purplish black …..

But in reality there are colours beyond human perception. The ones nearest to the spectrum we see are Infra red, which gives heat. You need special detectors to show this colour, and also ultra violet which can cause tanning or sunburn when the uv light is strong enough.

The spectrum continues into longer and shorter wavelengths beyond infra red and ultra violet. But that’s another story….

Canal art

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The main art on canal boats or barges consists of old fashioned lettering, this then has shadows cast to make it appear 3 dimensional. See the photos above.

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I tried to draw this canal rose pot to keep me occupied while I was at the canal festival.

What you regularly see is this castle and roses pattern on barges and canal boats. It consists of a landscape painted  with a stylised castle, often next to a river, and  roses and leaves will appear either around the castle or on a different part of the bucket, jug, pot, table, stool or whatever peice of equipment carried on the barge. These historical paintings are also often painted on the inside of the doors so that when they are opened against the side of the hull they are on view.

I think this style of art is lovely. It may be old fashioned, but its interesting.

To paint the roses you start with a  filled in circle of paint, then the leaves are painted in, then the petals are added. These seem to be created using the brush shape and are simple but neatly done. Finally details like highlights and stamens are added.

When these barges were in use, the main part of them were used for hauling coal or pottery. Whole families might live in a space not much bigger than about 10 foot by 6 foot…., is it any wonder that the barges were decorated with these patterns to make them more like home?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting Earth

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I finished my nebula paint in tonight and I had this black canvas, so I have started a painting of Earth.

I remember seeing the Apollo 11 landing on TV. I was only young and Dad got us up out if bed to see it. Grainy pictures showed Armstrong stepping down the ladder.

I think that inspired my love of science and space. Then seeing the photo of Earth rising above the moon fascinated me. The old TV programmes did not show Earth properly, sci fi had Earth without clouds, just blue oceans and brown land.. Seeing the reality, especially the photo showing the African continent was so special.

So anyway.  I like planets, I have painted Jupiter a couple of times and this is the second time I have painted Earth. It is amazing to see the colours and clouds. I wish I was young enough to go into space to see the reality.

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Here is the painting again…almost finished…I may add more detail to the clouds, painted under electric light so need to see it in the daytime. .

Nebula

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Just spent two hours going from a blank canvas to this. I’m trying to paint Planetary nebula NGC 2044. May have got the number wrong?

Anyway I saw the canvas last week and decided to have a go at something. I was going to paint the moon  but decided on something a bit more colourful….hmm there I go again!

Anyway, astronomers out there will see its not accurate, but its bloody difficult to hold a book in one hand and the canvas in the other…not doing my back any good. Its now 2am. I have an appointment at 9.30am, I dont know why I’m still up? Well yes I do, my artists block is well and truly broken. I have finished 8 tiny paintings today and started this!

I sort of explode sometimes with art.. can’t help it. I am so full of ideas sometimes…..but…bed…ok..bed..hmmm…coffee? No..bed…

Night all!

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This is the finished painting. Sorry about the lighting!

Artists block

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I want to paint, I have to have new work done in ten days, but apart from a few sketches I’m stuck.

I look at old paintings and drawings, and they are not good enough for what I’m doing, they don’t come up to scratch. They need to represent me, my art. I’m trying to be professional so they all have to be good quality.

I am blocked, I am allowing my fears to hold me back. Even thinking about it makes my mind go blank. It’s the fear of failure, the belief that Im not good enough. I know its not true. I can and will probably be OK, but its the fear…..

I can’t imagine being on the other side of it though. My stomach is fluttering. My mind is empty. I do not want to pick up my paintbrush. There’s canvas’s waiting to be covered but I’m not sure what to put on them!

Is there a patron saint for painters? I hope I get some inspiration soon…….

Yesterdays Art

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Some paintings I have worked on and a Mini Mona Lisa. ..

The first four are recent paintings that I have worked on because I was not happy with them. Water and Earth are both part of a series (including Air and Fire) I also want to improve them.

Leaves was originally a single leaf but it was very simple and I wanted to add more to it. The leaves are from my imagination. I sometimes use art as a way of helping my memory. If I can remember what something looks like I can use the memory for other paintings and not necessarily use reference photos. I dont have a photographic memory but I sometimes describe an image to myself, like the way a gutter and drainpipe are attached to a house. If I can describe it I can draw or paint it.

Autumn pottery is based on a “pot bank” the kilns that were used for firing pottery in the past. Now they use gas tunnel kilns. The plants are roses and cotoneaster. They are to represent vegetation growing around old, derelict pot banks. The blue background could be sky, or the water from local canals.

The final painting was a quick copy of the Mona Lisa, taken from a very old book on anatomy for student artists. I know it is wrong, the face is too thin, the smile is wrong. But for half an hour’s work its not bad. It’s on a tiny canvas about 1 inch by 2 inches.

So there you are, more paintings, its something I do.

I saw a Dragon, fly…..

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Ask me if I’m a poet and I will say no. It’s not something I do very often. I wrote some on Facebook a few years ago and then lost track of them. I suppose now I have more time that I’m trying to fill I can try to write…..

But it’s not Art!  I hear gasps of fear,                                          There is no paint, no sculpting hammer.

No blow to chip the detail from the infinite ages.                           Where is your paintbrush, do you care? To mold                       faces from thin air?

How do I draw a Dragon, head and tail…with words or crayon, clay or ink?                                                                                              I do not know, I cannot think.

But I will try to soar in flame, give sight to thought, or begin again.