Trying something new.

People love to tell you to "live in the moment".  However, one can get stuck in the moment for too long.  Working on a large painting that takes time, effort and concentration and doing little paintings in between the sessions on the larger painting can be quite refreshing.  What is also refreshing is trying out different ways of painting, it can be quite liberating.

Bushveld   350 x 250mm

So without further ado, here are my two latest distractions. 

The first one is not quite complete, I'm not happy with the shadows across the road, so I'm going to leave it for a day or two then see if I can correct them.

Stormy   300 x 250mm

The second one is experimental, I have no idea what I wanted it to be when I started but it became this moody scene created by sloshing brush loads of paint onto the board.  I showed it to my son and asked him what he thought it was, I was so glad when he said, "Clouds, rocks, birds and a wave splashing against the rocks".  Phew!

It might actually get painted over.

Lost in Translation

I was visiting my parents yesterday and was showing my Mom something on her computer.  I needed her to see what I was doing so I called to her saying "You need to be here by me".  She rushed into her study with a fly swatter because she thought I was saying "There's a bee here by me".  We laughed so much at the misunderstanding, but it made me think of how many other messages become lost and mixed up in our lives.

If I don't paint often enough then the same miscommunication happens between my brain and the canvas.  I know exactly what I want to paint, but from when the idea leaves my brain till it's on the canvas, the message somehow gets lost.

The only way to keep that messenger trained is to practice your craft as often as you can, whether it be playing an instrument, singing, writing or as in my case, painting.  I've read about many artists who paint something every day.  I understand why, because every time you place paint down, you learn something new, you discover a new way of doing something. 

So In my attempt to do something a bit more often than I have been, I did this painting on board. It is 60 x 40 cm in size.  It isn't of any place in particular, it is just inspired by the beautiful coastline of the Eastern Cape. 

In the meantime I'm still busy on the portrait, it is driving me a bit crazy at the moment.  I will post a photo when I am happier with it.