If my mind is on painting at the moment, it's because I need a body of consistent work if I want to exhibit anywhere! The zen doodling I indulged in for nearly 2 years seems to be past its shelf-life and I've put the equipment away. I'll probably try some improvised watercolour studies next month.
Yesterday flew past and I did not get anything done on the painting I'd just started, but got a bit further on others. One of my favourite YouTube demonstrators is Michael Lang, who paints bold abstracts including some fascinating ones of heads. I had a recycled canvas I'd already recycled but wasn't happy with, so I decided to try to work in Lang's style. I did not use a painting of his as a copy and I'm not sure about the face right of centre, which reminds me of a guitar, but I'm having fun trying this idea out. The painting is not nearly finished. It will probably be a one-off in this style, and it's just for me! Here's how it looks at the moment:
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| chorus ladies stage 3 |
I worked a bit more on a painting I started before my vacation and I'm quite pleased with it. I turned it 180° and decided it looked better that way. I stuck some shells on it last night, which will evetually eclipse the golden globe at the bottom (which was the top originally). This photo was taken of the stage before that:
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| Metamorphis VIII stage 4 |
I'm trying not to think figuratively for most of the new paintings, but the one with faces is not really abstract. I think it will take on more cubistic features as I work on it, but it's one of those paintings that's going to take some time and thought. Watching Michael Lang is a lesson in efficiency, by the way. Obviously, he thinks carefully about his demos before filming them. Other demonstrators are a lesson in tedium! I know. I've watched (the start of) hundreds!
You can learn a lot from experiencing live demos. There's always a chance that they will be interesting, though most visual artists could use some lessons in rhetoric and develop a bit of personality if they are going to appear before audiences. Like the demo I attended briefly at the local art store yesterday.
It was "staged" in a stuffy foyer with a skylight letting the hot sun pelt down and I think it was about 36° C and airless in there, instead of in the larger seminar room that has noth light and windows you can open! It was a demo on structures (such as the one in Metamorphis VIII) and the artist had already stuck something on the canvas. She then got a hairdryer going to dry off what she had done to the artwork. That was my cue to leave, not just to get away from the noise, but because the humidity was already giving me breathing problems! So much for the demo.
Time to start the day now. I hope my latest work on Metamorphis VIII has dried so that I can continue. The newest windows project is also due for some attention today.
