Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Light Bulb Moment

 


"Bright Idea"
5 x 7 oil on canvas panel
From the Scratching the Surface Series
SOLD

"Bright Idea" was painted from a reference photo I took a couple of years ago for a Daily Paintworks challenge that was painting reflections on white.  I never painted it because I couldn't get my head around the stripes. 

Even this morning when I chose this photo to paint, I couldn't get my head around the stripes, and started out in a very clumsy fashion...painting every line!  Sometimes when I get too overwhelmed with the complexity of something, I will play with it in Photoshop and get it down to a very simple block structure.  So..bright idea... I did that this morning and reminded myself I only have to suggest the stripes, not paint them exactly. 

I took a big soft brush and softened the whole painting...then went with just a few suggestions of color.  The canvas was initially toned with the red color anyway...so adding a few blues and grays here and there and I was happy.

I hope this might help some of you to see the resource and the final painting.  I'm not an advanced painter or master by any means, but it helps me to remember the words of an accomplished artist...honestly, I can't remember which one...but you are not painting things you are creating art.

My first light bulb! 

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