Three different avenues to creativity

For me there are several levels of inspiration and creativity. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The first and simplest way I am inspired is in the moment. Although I don’t often paint plain air, this is the kind of inspiration that lends itself to painting from life.

You are inspired with a place or object. You paint from life or from a photograph, in this process you can simplify the image you see, exaggerate certain aspects you need to convey or attempt ultra realism.

In this process, the small details are captured often without my knowledge. Subconsciously I often interpret the scene with many intangible elements that are rendered with varying degrees of detail depending on intent or my level of concentration.

The next inspiration is that which does exist, only not necessarily in one place. Different pieces of many different scenes are assembled to capture an idea.

This process is usually a snapshot in the mind that adds multiple images. I will use photos for details but much of the details are often absent, the subtle nuances of the scene can often be overlooked in this kind of painting but often this allows for the viewer to see what the artist intends without the extraneous details causing distraction.

The next process is from an inspiration that does not exist, it is an idea, often in dreams. Not all of the image is discerned in the initial view.

This particular image can take years to develop. Usually this kind of painting sits on the easel half done for several periods of work and often the idea never makes it past a sketch.

All three ways I paint have positives and negatives and just like writing, sometimes I can paint one way and other times I can’t even paint from life. 

Creativity is a very mystical thing for me, it’s the intangible feelings and aspects that are most rewarding for me as an artist.

Unraveling the Abstract: Artist Review Monique Carr

Sunflowers Galore by Monique Carr, Used with permission

What is abstract and where does the impetus come from. I have always painted emotions, feelings and objects of memory and have never fully appreciated abstract until recently.

A few artists have inspired me to learn more about abstract. It’s the shapes and colors, without description or explanation, in my opinion they create a raw feelings from abstraction.

This post is about an artist that has captured so beautifully the space between reality and the nuance that is abstract. Her name is Monique Carr.

I found her on a google plus page. Her art had that connection to reality and yet it exploded with color and energetic forms that leapt off the page.

I went to her website and discovered more paintings that were just as bold and exciting as the first painting I saw.

I found her portraits and that’s where I saw how she mixed the needed discipline of a skilled portrait with the energy and richness of abstraction.

Monique’s plein air paintings take you to a specific place but what she captures is the moment. A splash of colors and warm light describe the energy and excitement of a day in a sunflower field.

I could feel the heat of the afternoon, I could taste the summer air; to me that is where art transcends it’s two dimensional form. An emotional response is triggered by the kinetic humming of shapes and colors with just enough realism to keep the viewers eyes grounded.

I sent her a long winded email and we talked about abstract, I shared another artist who I am very fond of and she agreed. Her description of doing abstract was to abandon her assumptions, expectations and fears and paint the light and shapes that surround the image.

We both agreed, it’s an amazing feeling to connect with other artists especially the ones that perhaps see the world the same and yet so different than you have.

I am still unraveling the riddle that is the abstract. Monique inspires me to learn more about it and explore perhaps my inner abstract.

Check out Monique Carr Fine Art at  http://moniquecarr.com

First of the new series finished

Dante

This series has been slow and painstaking as the new images have slowly formed. Many of the new images have been waiting to be painted for many years, others were from recent vacations or kayak trips.

I am experimenting with perspective. When you first explore perspective in painting the horizon always starts at the highest point you can to show as much depth as possible, the interesting thing is if you look at a road going into the distance the image is not very tall at all depending on your perspective.

The secret is to keep the horizon low and allow multiple cues to show depth and distance. I am excited about a scene of cloud filled sky that allows the viewer to feel they are engulfed in the sky.
The perspective of the scene supports the distance and changes in color and contrast further explains the distance to the viewer.

The compositions have become simpler and the colors even bolder. I am excited to see where this series goes. Here are a few I finished today.

The next part of the series I think will be more cohesive as these are stragglers from previous points in the series-like I said it's been very slow going.

Firepit-Oklahoma Beavers Bend

Florida coast near Cape San Blas

Lake Texoma kayaking

Fear of the Canvas

I've just realized why I have been avoiding painting recently, not really avoiding it but just having a harder time settling down. Many of the works have been in progress for quite a while so getting back to them is often like picking up a strangers painting.

The amazing point is when suddenly you stop thinking about what you need to do and just start slashing at the canvas with purpose. There are unseen shapes and connections of shapes that come out of the surface of the paint and you fill in the blanks instinctively.

A stumbling block is the fear, especially when you like what you've started but there is no room for timid strokes in painting or anything else creative. Once you stop and think or attempt the safe way you might as well save painting for later.

Painting should be bold, excited and even a bit reckless. My thought is every painting is a potential mistake that will never see the light of day. This is the time you learn the most, when you are free to forcefully and confidently paint without fear of failure.

One particular technique that takes a lot of time going back and forth is the light on water, it starts out overly dramatic and slowly becomes more realistic. There are points where the light seems right, others when there seems to be a bump in the horizon and you have confidently fix the problems and continue to focus while you see the image you've been working on go from good to worse to good again.

Another aspect is painting objects, straight lines and architecture, something that often needs to be reworked and perfected. You are happy with the background and suddenly you've just destroyed it with the object that you overlapped-often the background needs to be reworked with the object as you work to perfect both.

I am excited about the process and while I continue to get bits of time to paint, I am adding to an already large painting list. Let me know what you think of the new images.

The Series Officially Begins

I need to start a tradition, maybe a champagne toast when the series finally begins. I am excited that I actually saw the image of the clouds, it's a drive across the bridge in Rowlett toward Rockwall.
It's really going to be a pretty simple image, just the clouds and telephone poles with the lake as a backdrop.

I'm excited about a new color palette, not intentional, just the way it's beginning. I'm using lots of blues and some discordant yellows. My main focus on this painting is for the viewer to be enveloped by the sky, lost in the depth of the image.

I also got back to a Florida painting that has started and stopped several times and now I get it. It really is like not understanding a puzzle for a long time and suddenly all the answers are clearly written out for you to follow. Some of the answers are clearer and more detailed than others but the image gives up its secret.

In the time I lose the vision or inspiration I tend to complicate clouds, water and pretty much the scene. When you return with fresh eyes suddenly you know what needs to be done.

I always feel like I'm painting someone else's painting, someone that lost their way and now I get it.
It's a very exciting feeling as the colors and forms tend to create themselves and an image that sparked your original inspiration makes itself known again.

I can't wait to learn what this series has in store and what direction it will go. Stay tuned.

Painting deliberately, but sometimes things just develop

Feel free to tell me what you see in this painting. I feel like it's captured the inspiration
but it remains a work in progress.

There are so many different feelings when you paint, sometimes it's pushing paint around, sometimes it's deliberate, even mechanical and sometimes it's instinctual, tonight's  sitting was a little bit of all of them.

I started with an under painting and it was one of the more deliberate paintings I've started, unfortunately I didn't have the full picture, just an idea of clouds moving forward over the viewers head. The actual image is from real life, I have photographs for reference but I'm not completely sure where the clouds end and what the landscape looks like.

I painted the background with perspective lines, every form, every color and every space will be designed with the idea of perspective and I want the viewer to feel overwhelmed by the clouds overhead.

As I tend to do, I switched gears after finishing a monochromatic under painting I turned to the painting of a scene from beneath Shark River Inlet in Belmar New Jersey. This painting was inspired thirty plus years ago and it still stood clear.

I painted with a clear feeling of purpose but as suddenly as it began it ends and I wasn't sure if I was done with the painting or should start all over. The problem is the idea and image is strong but the recollection is so hard to bring back to mind. I will continue to study it until I know it's either done or time to start over.

Another thing about painting, sometimes you feel like you've created your best work and sometimes the same painting looks like a mistake. I got back to the grackles above the city, an image that I started at the end of the last series, again I had that feeling of instinct kick in and for thirty minutes or so I painted like I figured out the problem.

None of the paintings are finished but I feel like I'm shaking off the stagnation and getting in the process. The most exciting thing about painting instinctual is that images appear that you didn't necessarily know you were creating they just come out of the details you've worked in feverishly.

I'm excited about this series and feel it will be a huge step toward my future painting style and feel.
Stay tuned, more paintings coming very soon.

Painting Blind: instinctually painting from memory

I saw an extremely vague image of calvary the last time I went to church. It was an amazing image that I could barely decipher but it has stuck with me.

The colors were rich and vivid and they streamed across the canvas in varying complementary and discordant hues. Some parts appeared very clear and other pieces were just barely evident.

I have worked in the past from memory but in recent series I prefer to have some reference image. This time was almost completely from memory and even the memory was vague.

It’s a feeling that you are  painting as the image paints itself, it is an awkard feeling that forms from some divine place. If you think too much you start muddying up the colors, you must have a feeling that whatever color or detail needs to be perfected you will instinctually know it.

It’s a very different feeling from the deliberate act of painting a clearly planned vision. Instinct and faith are the only tools I have when painting blind. Next post is about painting deliberately about an upcoming group of paintings I will describe.