After some hesitation, I've decided to opt for an exploration of interactions between yellow and black making sure to include toned down (grayed) and high intensity color accents for variety...
Funny thing... after a one week break from painting (I'm getting ready to repaint my studio after a major clean up), it feels like I don't know how to paint any more! One thing is for sure, I'm determined to stay loose and intuitive up to the final layer. It appears music can help curb the rational brain in favour of the intuitive brain during the act of painting... harnessing my intuition is definitely an important next step in my becoming a real artist! I used to think a lot between layers and I realize now that this has been to the detriment of my creative process (some thinking is required, however, after having initiated a painting with a sub-optimal design). This is the very reason why many of my watercolor sketches are much better than most artworks I've produced over the last few years with acrylics... it's never too late to learn from one's mistakes!
Note to self; "I feel more comfortable building up layers... the question is: can I get away with 2-3 layers max after the underpainting (as I did with some of my more successful paintings over the last 2 years) while conveying a richness of surface I did not have before? In a way, I should be more preoccupied with results than with the number of layers!"
... the possibility of introducing smoke from burning incense... a common ritual in Yoga classes. I rapidly tested ground in the upper part of the picture. I now need to figure out the smoke patterns around the bend... and everywhere else for that matter!
I'm now ready for some serious painting!
... as I struggled to balance bright colors and attenuated ones (went at it the wrong way!). In terms of textural effects, I like the sweeping paint effects that remind me of Chinese painting... on the other hand, I don't want to end up with a gimmick. I've got to find some more ways to apply paint!
Note RE last painting: With this pose and the unusual cropping I applied to it, I wanted to keep people guessing a little by focusing on the weird design brought about by the exaggerated highlights. I got more than I bargained for in the "weirdness" department!
... and I had to strip more paint than I thought from the old plaster walls. I hope to be finished by the end of this coming weekend. This time around, I'll just keep a few book shelves and use as much studio real estate as possible for painting purposes. This room is not super huge (90 square feet) but it'll do for a while...
My intention was to make clean color accents appear much brighter with the final pass. Great idea but I'm still in the mud! At any rate, I have another opportunity to leave some more brush marks...
... although I feel I have achieved some resemble of what could be. So much for the Zen-like atmosphere. I still want fire in my paintings it seems!
Funny thing... after a one week break from painting (I'm getting ready to repaint my studio after a major clean up), it feels like I don't know how to paint any more! One thing is for sure, I'm determined to stay loose and intuitive up to the final layer. It appears music can help curb the rational brain in favour of the intuitive brain during the act of painting... harnessing my intuition is definitely an important next step in my becoming a real artist! I used to think a lot between layers and I realize now that this has been to the detriment of my creative process (some thinking is required, however, after having initiated a painting with a sub-optimal design). This is the very reason why many of my watercolor sketches are much better than most artworks I've produced over the last few years with acrylics... it's never too late to learn from one's mistakes!