Tags
art, creativity, flowers, inspiration, Learning, painting, Shirley Trevena, watercolor
I’m still “studying the masters” and playing with style. Most recently with two contemporary artists.
The first is a floral inspired by a David Peikon painting of pink dahlias. I love the way his flowers and surrounding garden fill the whole space, a riot of colors, lines and shapes. I found I enjoyed painting that tangle of leaves of the left as much as, or more so, than the flowers in the center. I didn’t try to copy his leaves but created my own, each shape leading to the next and the next, making it up as I went along. The same with the garden on the right. I tried to keep this side lighter, hinting at what was there and using less detail. I’m happy enough with this to want to frame and display.
I’ve discovered that I like painting detail in a complex design, that I can get lost in it. I’ve also found that I like vibrant colors that fill the whole paper leaving little white space.
That’s probably why Shirley Trevena’s work and her book Taking Risks with Water Color caught my eye. In her book she details how she painted “Pink Pears Red Flowers.” I tried to follow along but kept getting ahead myself. I didn’t want to copy hers, but use some of her techniques and basic design, simplified somewhat, as seen below.
I liked how she started with the rich, red blossoms on the blank white paper and worked outward, filling up the space, placing objects and background patterns, often from her imagination rather than what’s actually before her.
I used some of her techniques to create my first still life drawn from objects collected around my home: an African violet and orchid in bloom, two oranges in an antique bowl, a clay figurine, and a crocheted doily. I wanted the cobalt blue to be the unifying color, and a mix of warmer hues of yellow, gold, orange, and sienna as the complement.
When I finished painting the main objects, I created the surrounding background from my imagination, inspired by the way Trevena breaks up her still life,s with bands of color and patterns.Thus the coral background and strip at the top left and the purple/yellow combo on the right.
While some parts of the painting I like more than others, altogether I’m pleased with my first still life drawn from real life, from things that I love.
Discover more from Deborah J. Brasket, Author
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Very pretty, Deborah! Do you like painting or writing better or is that like asking which kid you like best?
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A great question, Luanne. It is a bit like chosing between two children. Writing will always be my first love and I don’t think I could live without it. But painting is like a second child in that you think you could never love another child as much as your first until you have your second, and then you know you can love them equally but differently. I can say the pleasure of painting is deepened when writing about it. But painting doesn’t deepen my writing. Although I have thought about trying to paint something that might capture the essence of a poem I wrote. That seems like a challenge I will probably take up one of these days.
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I love that painting is a completely different type of brain activity. When I’m tired of writing or blocked I hope to turn to painting as a kind of creative refreshment. In that sense it feeds my writing.
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It is a creative refreshment. Art has always fed my writing (drawing pleasure and inspiration from other’s artwork), and now my own art practice is a refreshing pasttime and creative outlet with “no words.”
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I read this the other day, and I’ve been thinking about it off and on. I’m trying to think through this notion of painting being deepened with writing about it, but the other way around seems daunting. Yet paintings can comment on things, obviously. But do we “use” it that way?
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Hmmm. I see what you mean. If we use art to illustrate poetry, it could detract from both, not allowing the poem or the painting to speak on its own terms.
Often my poems start with a strong visual image, not something I see out there but in my own mind. As I read my poem I’m seeing images flash through my mind. So I was thinking it might be interesting to see if I could capture in a painting some of what I’m seeing when I read it.. It’s not a fixed image, but it has strong,colors, lines, shapes.
A poem after all is just a vehicle to express something deeply felt, some emotion or insight or new way of looking at something. And a painting is another way to express similar things. So you could have the original idea for a thing you wanted to express, and it could turn into a poem or a painting. Each would be distinct, it’s own unique thing. And neither would ever quite capture the thing you wanted to share. Both mediums are limited. So if I were to try to capture in a painting what I wrote about in a poem, the thing I would try to capture would not be the poem, but the thing that gave rise to the poem, what the poem was trying to capture in words. Does that make sense?
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A terrific article, thanks. Very descriptive of being ‘lost’ in the art (painting by comission, writing by reading between lines), and the reference to reading another’s work. My current project is more restrictive, so reading about yours is refreshing.
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Thank you. I”m glad for found my post refreshing. It’s one of the reasons I like to read others blog, to get out of myself and be refreshed by another’s thought and expressions..
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Fun – fun – fun!
I like the pink dahlias best!
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It is fun! Thanks, Laura.
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These are lovely. I love how you emulate other artists.
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Thank you, Valorie. It’s how I’m learning to paint, practicing styles and techniques, and also how I’m learning what it is and how it is I want to paint.
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I love your art work, Deborah, especially the way you take an idea, experiment a bit and make it uniquely your own. The cobalt blue looks stunning set off with a coral background. You have a great eye for colour and tone. When my life gets less demanding, draining and hectic I hope to break out of writing for a while and get stuck into art for a change, though I am very much an inexperienced beginner! But what you share here is firing my inspiration and desire to do something different creatively. Thank you! xo
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Thank you, Joy. I think you will enjoy it. It’s a great creative outlet when you have the time and space (mentally/emotionally) to tap into it. When life gets crazy, it is hard. Hope yours smooths out soon.
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