Category: abstract painting

Word on Wednesday is Abstraction

Well, lookie here, another painting found it’s way out of my brain. Imagine that? How quick was this one? I almost can’t believe it myself. As I was finishing the last still life watercolor painting, this one was calling me to be worked on.

Three Peaches ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor on Arches cold press 140lb paper

After I found a small section of those photos that seemed pleasing, and as soon as I released the last work from the watercolor block, I started in on this piece. There was a bit of a challenge keeping the white of the paper as the highlight on the fruits, but I did my best. I’m comfortable with the outcome, and painting this was work.

The colors feel different than the last few pieces, as well as the shapes. Something is changing, I can feel a difference. Abstraction seems to be taking hold as the shapes get larger.

I’m just going to go with the flow.

Abstract Artrage

Artists come in all shapes and sizes. What I mean by that is some of us paint in oils, some in watercolors, or pastels. Some of us are realists, impressionists, abstract artists, or use digital means to convey our imagination creatively. 
I’m not really sure where my style falls. It’s somewhere in the impressionist style, if I had to guess. Shapes and colors, darks and highlights grab my attention. Somewhere in there I need to look at real objects and find the beauty in that. 
In the past I have painted in a super-real style, then I would go  minimalist and paint with few colors  like alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and add black or white. It’s all good, working the process.
Through the cyber grapevine I recently heard about an application for iPad called Artrage. It sounded like something I would like to use. Think about it, all the fun/work without the clean up. Nice.
For a small fee I downloaded it to my device and started right away at an oil painting using my finger as the brush. I think most of you know that’s how you use iPad anyway, there is no stylus. Let me tell you how great it felt to throw these colors on the make believe canvas! You can even mix and smudge the paint. It’s a great app. 
Now I find out there is a brush-like stylus that’s just been developed to use on iPad as a paint brush and even a drawing tool, called Sensu. When this tool comes out I am definitely buying it. I can’t wait.
Abstract Artrage ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
Digital oil on canvas for iPad

So here is my first digital oil painting using my finger on the iPad. How realistic can I get painting on iPad? I have no idea until I purchase and use that stylus. This is a great diversion without the set-up and clean up.

It should be interesting.

Quick Self Portrait Can be Scary

Free Outside ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
7×10 Watercolor on Arches

Last week I wanted to paint something quick so I made a print of my photograph and hurriedly sketched this self portrait on a small block of Arches watercolor paper. Seeing these photos together helps me to see how squishy I drew my head, my eye isn’t looking in the same direction, and it’s too wide open. Scary.

On the trail at the museum visit

Drawing while sitting isn’t a smart thing to do. I end up with weird perspective. Would have been better if I stood up so I could see what I was doing. I made my head too long and the angle is wrong, but hey, it’s the process! This painting is an elongated me. The product was not the goal, it was to just work.

Since I figured out that my year of 100 paintings is coming to a close next week or so, I’ve been trying to paint more twenty minutes pieces. Each of my affirmation cards for the Blast Off class count as a painting, right? Add this one and I was up to #53. Still, not getting near 100. Why not just go ahead and paint anything? I might do this again on larger paper to get the proportions right. Hope I don’t scare myself.

It’s okay to take liberties in art. Does it really matter if the likeness is exact? Don’t think it is. The way Picasso painted his subjects nobody could really look like any of his abstract figures. So I can make believe this is a kind of abstract. Yeah, that sounds good.

Process people! Move it. Paint. Work. Try. Try it again.

At the End

Day’s End, Watercolor on paper, 11×14″
(c)2008 Dora Sislian Themelis

Here I am at the last week in The Artist’s Way 12 week course.  And I’m not happy about it.  I enjoyed reading each chapter and trying to do all the tasks.  I looked forward to writing the three Morning Pages of long-hand, stream of consciousness thoughts.  I had started a journal anyway, but this gave my writing a purpose and a direction.  Never mind that I called myself stupid, you idiot, and jerk most days in those pages.  The writing habit emptied my brain of nonsense and helped keep a tidy space all up in there! 

The weekly tasks were difficult for me to keep up with though.  I plan go back to various weeks and complete them.  I know they were there to help, but somehow I managed to avoid many tasks.  I don’t know why.  Did I resist doing them?  It seems it’s normal for creative people to throw obstacles in our own path because doing the task is scary.  Moving ahead puts us off sometimes, so we resist.

 Anyway, I’m thinking I won’t really be done with the course just yet.  And the Artist’s Date.  Time to play all by myself!  That was an absolute pleasure when I pinned myself self down to indulge in it.  At each week’s end was a check-in that asked if we did the Morning Pages every day, did we do the self-pampering Artist’s Date, if so, what?  These two things will have to become a “must do”. 

At a gathering this weekend someone asked me what I did.  I said I was an artist and talked about my paintings and handmade items.  The woman I was speaking to was awestruck and began planning for me to show at some venue.  I found myself saying Yes!  I gave out my handy business card.  I was so ready!  The Artist’s Way talks about synchronicity and there it was.  Things were just falling into place as if it were meant to be.  Before reading this book I may not have been so bold or so ready.

If I stick with it, art will easily become a larger part of my day, every day.  Art as process, art as play.  The course says creativity requires faith, which means we give up control.  But giving up control is scary and we resist.  The resistance is the block on the path to creativity.  That quiet internal Yes! is what leads us on the right path.  So I’m sticking with the Artist’s Way plan and I’m just going to keep on saying Yes!