The other day I took a break from my paintings and I did a little design exercise which was fun. It's a bit like practicing your scales when you play the piano - it limbers you up, tunes the eye for when you need to analyse your paintings and make design decisions. Have a look and then have a go. Watch the Vlog.
In this demonstration you will see how to create a beautiful abstract painting giving the SENSE of flowers bobbing in a breeze. My goal is to create interesting shapes of saturated colour with depth and complexity that suggests a floral form, but has the feeling of freedom and spaciousness. Using paint in layers, pencil and ink along with a palette knife and colour shapers beautiful effects can be created - watch and then try it for yourself.
This video takes a look at the stencils I made and teaches you how to use stencils to create depth, direction and interest into your paintings. In this video I explain: How to choose colours in order to create contrast and direction in your painting and how to use stencil shapes that mimic negative or positive shapes to create rhythm and interest.
When people get stuck in their work it's usually because they are trying to do something when they're not ready or asking the wrong questions at the wrong time in the development of the work. Once they know at what stage they're at with the work and what they should be focusing on then they know what questions to ask. For example, if you're at the beginning stage of a painting you don't start analysing whether you've got the colours right, or whether the design is strong. Those are questions for later. In this week's Vlog I demonstrate what to focus on at the various stages of developing a painting.
One of the ways I do this when I'm building my layers at the beginning of a painting is to embed the work with drawings, words, shapes, colour, and collage that has direct relevance to my life at that moment. Watch the Vlog to see this process demonstrated in my work, and stick around to the end to see bossy old Ginny.
Art has always been a powerful form of communication. In this video I demonstrate how I vent my feelings in paint, and the importance of aligning the method with the message. Watch the video and then express your feelings in paint - it’s a wonderful release of frustration, and as well as channeling anger you can also find a giggle along the way too.
When I start my paintings I begin with play. I had to learn to play with the paint and the tools and whatever else I had to use just like a curious kid. "What happens if I use this?" "What happens if I do that?" I recorded it, so you can see what it takes to play if you are like I was and sometimes find it hard to let go, forget about what you're making, and just get lost in the MAKING. Watch the Vlog.
One of the questions I ask myself when I'm trying to nut out my paintings is "What is this painting all about - where are my heroes?" When I get this figured out it's so much easier to know what needs to be done next. Sometimes the hero can get lost in the crowd - so once I've identified what are the heroes, I can clear away the distractions and make some space for the main players to shine.
In this week's Vlog, I continue with the progress of the painting which I started last week. I'm adding the layers and building the surface using different tools to apply paint and get a range of effects. Watch as I share with you the process of building my current work as it's starting to get exciting.
In this Vlog I talk about this process and show examples of Picasso's drawings from one of my favourite artbooks. 'The Sketchbooks of Picasso'. He of course didn't have a SMART phone or Photoshop to help him nut out design issues - he used pencil and paper. And his small composition studies are the perfect example of this type of drawing. There are also suggestions for how you could use these ideas in your own practice and some examples of my drawing to demonstrate.
