Where art meets meaning, and your space meets you
This week I upgraded to allow video posts. Here you can see what I painted this week and listen to my voice as I talk through my art pieces.
Below is an example of rougher textures. I like the juxtaposition of rough or matt against smooth and glossy to show contrast and tension.
I got painting in colour this week. The still life got me to experiment with light and shadows.
I did the shadows and dark s without using pure black on the page but instead using primary colours to create a neutral. That dark neutral would also create a lovely grey when white was added to it.
This week was a difficult week at work as well as with family. Events made me think of mortality and the intended and unintended impressions we might leave on people around us.
Some impressions might linger for decades while others might change more immediately according to the amount of light or shade in our behaviour that is applied.
I noticed how this insight is conveyed with a study of tonal impressions. It changes depending on how much white or black paint is added. There are therefore more than fifty shades of grey as well as any colour possibly
I made a start on a new collection this week. It combines some graphic figures and abstract work. They are on a background of white and have neon and gold iridescence for a fantastical piece that has everyday significance.
I love how the light affects neon colours. They are great for bringing cheer and playfulness into my art. They’ll look amazing in a beach house or sunny climate. I’m halfway through finishing these, and when they are ready, they’ll be in the shop soon.
My art class this week got us to practise our portrait painting with a live model. It was the first time I painted a portrait. I had always been nervous about painting humans. I somehow felt incompetent.
But I realised I had been here before when I got into it. Flashback: I trained to become a beauty therapist when I left school. And no, I was not a beauty school dropout. Instead, I did well. But what people don’t know about beauty training is the amount of anatomy and physiology you must learn. I had exams in the skeletal and muscular systems and cross-sections of the skin. When I told the art teacher about this, I found myself recounting the Latin names of the muscles of the face. Surprisingly I even told her about each muscle’s insertions and origins. Didnt realise I still remembered those pesky exam type answers.
It was illuminating how my prior experience of understanding what is happening behind faces and below the skin surface was really useful for my drawing. I also remembered the story of Leonardo Da Vinci studying anatomy. It seems he used to study cadavers. But my study of faces was not of dead people. They were the heads of 1000 facials I had done in my 20s in salons and spas in London and around the world.
It was nice to get encouragement to continue still-life drawings. I shall.
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