Alright, new blog, new post, old idea I've had a for a long time. "I'll start a blog, I'll explain all the art things that most people don't get. It'll be huge!" I think I first said that about seven years ago. Why now? Eh, who knows? I figured I'd take some time to do this first one and maybe I can ride the momentum like a giant wave. Or, maybe it will drown me. Well, like I always say, what doesn't kill me pisses me off. I did a couple posts on Facebook, asking what people would like to know about art/artists. I was expecting people to want to know the difference between one and two point perspective, or what informal balance is. Instead, almost everyone wanted to know where I get my ideas. Wow! I might was well try to explain quantum physics in Russian. (Although, remind me and I'll tell you about the quantum color wheel I came up with). So, here goes:
I get lots of ideas. Some fully formed, some need to gestate a while until they develop. Some, well some just never develop. They mull around in my brain (which can't possibly be like a normal human's ) until they just fade away. Some seemingly disappear and then reappear, sometimes years later, ready to jump onto canvas (or paper, or whatever).
Here's a painting I did, probably in the late '80s,:
I had a spark of an idea from a guy in my painting class. Tape off sections on my canvas and then use different colors, textures and/or techniques in each section. I realized if I painted the canvas black before I taped it up the borders would be black when I removed the tape. I probably did six or seven of these, tinkering with different styles and colors. Then, I moved on.
Here's a more recent one, probably three years ago:
"An Odd Perspective". I was sitting at my easel and wondered if I could abstract geometric shapes and make them look three dimensional. It was fun to paint. I've never done anything like this before, I was just wondering down that path, seeing where it took me. I did a few more of these, some with faces in them. Just because i wondered what it would look like. Here's one:
"Everyone Has A Prison". Fun, challenging, and when I finished it I thought "I need new challenges" and haven't done anything with this style since.
I have painted a lot of paintings in this style:
"First Painting" I got the idea for these from a picture my friend Buffie took of my friend Ian shortly before he died. He told her he wanted a picture of his face with the shadows fading into the dark background. She gave me a copy of that picture that i looked at for almost four years before it germinated into a painting style that has made me world famous. This is the first one I did. Also the first one I sold. I laid the paint on thick and blended it with a sea sponge (that I refer to as The One True Sponge). I tried different colors, different facial expressions. Then I started thinning my paint and layering it in semi-transparent layers. Instead of mixing the colors I let them blend optically on the canvas. I did a couple paintings to see if I could blend skin colors with only a blue, a red, and a yellow. I can't remember which one was the second painting, but the first painting was this masterpiece:
"Karen" Many consider this my masterpiece from this period. I think this one is:
"The Eyes Of Age". Who needs colors when you can master black and white like this? I remember thinking "I'll never paint anything better than this" when it was finished. It was around three weeks until I painted anything else. Can't remember what it was. My records from that era are packed away somewhere. I started challenging myself. Instead of the black being the background, how about if it was the middle ground:
"The Light Of Day" Hmmm, okay, what if I made the black the foreground color? Could I do that? Uh, yeah:
"Brave New World". I did lots of commission work during this phase. Some that I enjoyed more than others. Some I did from pictures that did nothing to inspire me. The work is good, but I can tell it's missing some soul. I also experimented with dripping and pouring paint, like in this self portrait:
"Love Me, I Do" I certainly do. I'm not sure this explains where I get my ideas, but it gives you an example of how I can take an idea and twist it a hundred ways before I'm finished with it.
So, where do my ideas come from? Some from pictures I see, that could become a jumping off point for a painting (or several), some come from words or phrases I hear. I keep a notebook to write these down, lest I forget them. I have several hundred waiting to take their place at the business end of a brush ( or pencil, or pastel stick, pen, really could be anything). Sometimes a mood strikes me and I just paint on canvas, watching and waiting for it to tell me what the next step is. I look at the shapes and colors and it tells me what the next step is. Like this:
"What Dreams May Come" Sometimes I paint all crazy and abstracty (it is TOO a word!) then find a reference pose that fits it, like this:
"Far Away Eyes" One of my favorites, which came from this artistic turd:
I've done paintings to see what the minimum amount of information I could put it and still have people see what it is:
"G Rated Nude" Most of my good paintings come from challenges I set for myself, like "what if I painted with just my fingers?" :
"The Red Wrap" Yep. A finger painting. I'm not sure if I've explained where my ideas come from. I've tried (there is no try, only do or not do) and maybe got sidetracked, but I've explained where a lot of my paintings came from. I guess I get ideas all the time. I'm not sure if it happens to other people. I can only speak for my own manic mind. I just know sometimes I'm driven to paint and some times crap flows from my brush (In my defense, I can usually pull something cool from the crap. Maybe it's the fertilizer that grows a great piece of art. (Wow, did that sound stupid to you? I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.) Anyway, this is the first installment. Let me know if you have questions and I'll get you some answers.
You know, if you wanna kick me a few buck, you know, for the cause, you can do that here:
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