Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Ultimate fighter XII final... An attempt at the "twirl" with the palette knife!

For this final pass, I kept applying paint in circular sweeping motions...


The end result in a close-up view is pretty raw, yet colorful...


I've got some work to do with this new way of applying paint... as I'm not there yet!

Note: A certain deformation of shapes beyond paint application was necessary, in order to achieve a certain spin. This was done on a 26 X26 piece of raw canvas...

Note to self: "I've got some new tools that could help me pave the way to more artistic freedom... I think it's time to let go!"

Subnote to self: "I need to keep reminding myself that less is more with this technique... just one iota beyond the second pass would have been perfect..."

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Ultimate fighter XII - step I... Trying to lose my art in a vortex!

These days, I'm thinking about developing a specific aspect in my art that could potentially lead to a more prolonged saga of exploration in one direction. For one thing, I would like the gestures that I use in my painting process to be in line with those associated with my Tai Chi practice. I'm referring in particular to sweeping circular motions. In this line of thinking, I've been attracted for quite a while to the "enso" circle often seen in Zen paintings, the so-called formless form. Another aspect that interests me (I have a scientific background) is the entropy phenomenon which causes everything in the Universe to go from a state of organization to a state of disorganization over time.

With this in mind, I took a second look at one of my ultimate fighter paintings and initiated this experiment on canvas...


It will be interesting to see if I can make some sense out of this rather humble first step!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

The healing power of art....

This painting below will be part of an auction to raise funds for medical research in Multiple Sclerosis...


I wish my former company and team members good luck in their fund raising... and a cure for people with MS!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Gearing up slowly... digging from my bank of sketches and my memory!

Still not ready for some serious work... nonetheless, not willing to remain completely inactive from an artistic standpoint. Ten years ago, I was in Cuba for a sales meeting and couldn't resist capturing this slender South-American woman from Argentina.... with a rather abbreviated watercolor sketch. I pushed my luck on a 16 X 16 piece of raw canvas to see what I could do in one sitting over a couple of hours...



As a second thought, I pushed the painting a little further to add more drama (in actuality, there was a shower station in this scene by the ocean side)...


 I see some potential for free-style painting from memory and rough sketches... as I seem to be in a state of readiness to graduate to that level. I want to resuscitate the technique that I developed during the first part of this year with raw cotton/linen. Very large formats are ideal for this technique though (not this small size) to capitalize on the abstract quality of textures in close-up view.

Note to self: "Since I leverage abstraction in close-ups and large scale works, my smaller scale works will need to be much more abstract so that they align to my larger works."

Monday, November 21, 2011

Laying the foundation for next year... a frantic pursuit for some new nut to crack!

I'd like to get serious this coming December. Meanwhile, I'm in hot pursuit of something new. A couple more "doodling" experiments:

  • Turquoise phtalo (or blue) underpainting adding rose fluo before going for skin tones...

  • Selectively superimposing transparent black and white over colors to establish shapes or to force partial black and white passages over a colorful rendition (I tried the other way around and it doesn't seem to work for me)...
  •  Using a "reactive painting approach" over an abstract background, i.e., finding the subject after the fact based on established patterns and what comes to mind...


With the latter approach, a partial sealing of the raw canvas (with a mixture of acrylic medium and water)  will be necessary to promote free-flowing colors for the abstract background.

Based on my last experiments, a number of potential "dogmas" come to mind for 2012:
  • Use  raw canvas or primed canvas depending on the effect sought after
  • Use sketches as the foundation for my paintings (I should investigate projecting the original sketches on canvas to retain as much "truthfulness" as possible)
  • If reference material is to be used, use video stills as opposed to photographs (the capacity to select the most impactful image)
  • Experiment going absolute free style with no "chute", i.e. from memory
  • Retain the "good" (what I like) from this year, from the past four years
  • Merge styles that I have developed this year
  • Make every painting the sum total of everything that I've learned, in other words, all styles and techniques (my vocabulary) should be used, the balance between them dictating the final look
 At any rate, something to mull over during the next few weeks!

Note to self:" Is it doubtful that I'm a real artist?... since thinking and free artistic expression work counter to each other. If I allow myself to go berserk within the boundaries of my logic... may be there is still some hope!"

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Still doodling in-between series...

These days, I'm trying to lay the foundation for my 2012 series. Four years ago, I used Phtalo blue underpaintings for my Hawaiian series while using opaque paint...


I'm tempted to throw a monkey wrench in my picture and go back to this underpainting approach with my current use of transparent colors on raw canvas. This will force the use of pure complementary colors and optical mixing on canvas. Over the last few years, I have relied on analogous colors schemes (e.g., red, yellow, orange with some purples, blues and darks for accents). Here is another "doodle with paint" as a first awkward experiment in this line of thinking....


I used turquoise phtalo as underpainting for this one. For more visceral works, raw cotton/linen canvas is tough to beat... and this is only one pass.

Another painting approach that has been haunting me for a while is "reactive painting", i.e., throwing some paint on canvas and building from there. This is my next experiment... and perhaps the only way to subjugate the control freak in me!

Note to self: "I have no time to be preoccupied with style for now... and just need to gobble up!"

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Jaguar woman final... Trying to zero in on some prototype "jaguar woman"!

I remained prudent with this one as I collated different parts from two different models... I stuck to a monochromatic color scheme not to introduce too many variables at the same time!


Next year, I'd like to leverage "the vamp" and the "jaguar woman" in 2 colorful experimental series... just for laughs! I will use the muse as a "body model"...

Note: The first step for this painting represents best where I wanted to go initially... but because the rendering for my jaguar skin back ground was below par, I had to change strategy along the way and go with a more opaque approach.

Note to self: "Deep down, I've always wanted to paint like Frank Frazetta! I see these series as an opportunity to get this out of my system... at least when it comes to subject matter, certainly not style!"

Monday, November 14, 2011

Jaguar woman - step II... Getting closer to a solution...

I spent 30 minutes this afternoon to push this one further towards a viable solution...


The upper portion still remains to be resolved, especially the face and the body of the jaguar... so I'm still at the underpainting level before proceeding to the next step.

Note to self: "I plunged into this one without much pre-planning... and this is forcing me to improvise, which is a good thing for the control freak in me!"

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Chasing the jaguar woman....

This is a subject that I tackled last year with a rather conservative approach. In-between series, I'm in the mood to experiment... to the extent of making a fool of myself with something totally off the wall, and this is a case in point...


... can I leverage transparency over a haphazard "jaguar-like" skin pattern to depict an elusive jaguar woman? I will soon find out!

Note: This is a mixture of crude Photoshop work and my underpainting as a means to envision what could be...

Friday, November 11, 2011

"Doodling with paint" final - "Cherchez la femme!

I pushed my previous "doodle" a little more to investigate possibilities with a different subject matter...


... in occurrence looking for some kind of dark eyed "vamp" that could become the subject of a series. Needless to say, it's simmering in my mind!

Note to self: "I see potential in projecting my usual viewpoint which favours interlocking shapes in close-up views."

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

"Doodling with paint" step II... May be, I'm becoming more serious!

In the face of my somewhat wrinkled work in progress this afternoon, I stretched it and gave it another coat of paint...


... and realized that, may be, I have the foundation for a steamy bathroom scene!

Note to self: "I'm looking for a bushy haired, dark eyed female character for a new series... could this be it!"

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Seeking some artistic stimulation in-between series...

Today, because of the unusually mild weather for this time of the year in Montreal, the muse and I decided to hit pedestrian streets downtown and visit a few art exhibitions in the process. I was particularly impressed by the Big Bang, a contemporary art exhibition featuring the collaborative work of internationally renowned artists residing in Montreal, and the new wing of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts covering a plethora of Canadian artists from different eras. We topped it off with the "Les pastellistes 16ième édition" at the Tudor room of the Ogilvie store. As usual, there is alway some ideas to be picked up along the way.

Yesterday, I started another "doodling with paint" piece on a 30 X 30 piece of canvas just to warm up some more with primed canvas and to readjust to a different scale of work...


I ran out of duct tape, so it looks like I may have to stretch that one before the second coat...

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Didn't feel like painting today... did a small-scale experiment...

Some time ago, I obtained a sample of primed cotton/linen canvas from my usual frame supplier. I decided to use half an hour to test this new support for me...


I went at it "alla prima" anxious to see the results. There is definitely some potential for a "thin paint" painter like me!

Note: these days, I'm trying to figure out what I'm gonna do next in terms of subject matter... things are simmering in my mind...

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Playing catch up with "prep work"... a good time to think!

Starting today, I decided to initiate the prep work for my completed paintings (painting sides and varnishing)...


Because of the backlog of paintings, I realize that this is a daunting task! Looks like I'm gonna have some time to think about what I want to accomplish with my future art!

Note to self: "Over the last 12 months, I've been thinking a lot about execution and the achievement of certain effects in an attempt to differentiate myself from other artists and to remain aligned to the themes that I had selected. It's becoming obvious that to progress to the next level, I need to forget about execution and rely more on what I feel. In a way, I see the last 12 months as a calculated step backward in preparation for a leap forward."

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Taking stock... and committing to specific avenues... inspired by Lake Placid!

Nothing beats a walk in fresh air to clear up the mind and regain a sense of direction. Spending the day at Lake Placid yesterday in good company was perfect timing as I'm currently reevaluating my artistic objectives for 2012 ...


Merci Robert et Monique for being our touristic guides in this beautiful area in upstate New-York... just before the snow! This is Mirror Lake downtown Lake Placid.

After some cogitation on my part, in terms of style, I want to develop  two streams of works next year: one visceral and high impact, the other more subdued and Zennish. I'd like to emphasize artistic aspects (paint for the sake of paint, mixed styles) rather than illustrative aspects using the vocabulary that I've developed so far (color palettes, brush strokes, painting knife work, glazes, refraction, deconstruction). Based on my experiments, I'd like to use the best technique for each support (primed cotton, raw cotton, raw cotton/linen). In terms of subject matter, I want to pursue close-ups of faces and bodies but, this time... relying more on live sketches rather than video stills or photos, and also shying away from any overt narrative content or the clear communication of a specific idea. There is also the possibility of creating a female personage (a vamp?) that could be featured in  a series, something I've been toying with for a while...

This year has been a year of intense technical exploration tackling different supports and diverse subjects and themes. The idea of putting a concrete idea on canvas with some ambiguity was important for a while. Moving forward, after 4 years with acrylics, I'd like to purely test my artistic ability... using less brain and more heart!

Note to self: "My urgency  to create a painting a week should be curbed. From now on, I want to concentrate at delivering high impact works without any concerns about speed of execution. In other words, I want to be driven by whatever it takes to get there, i.e., what's in my head."