Drama and Contrasts in Art
This is my latest painting called “Counterforces”. The idea for this came from the books that I have read recently. They are Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland. I picked those books, not because I would be writing a novel, but because I want to understand more about drama and how to bring it to visual art. With self-expression, I aim for describing scenes and experiences rather than static figures. I want to experience the drama while I am creating and show the drama in the result as well.
Create Contrasts and Suspense – Watch the Video!
I recorded the process of creating the painting. While creating, I tried to bring as many contrasts as possible to the painting. The most memorable moments in our lives often include some drama – countering forces or feelings.
Let me be your mentor in art: Subscribe to my weekly emails!
Put Thoughts and Feelings into Your Art
I am excited to start the fall season with a video blog post! I will create the mixed media painting above from start to finish and show the atmosphere of my creative space as authentically as I can. I will also talk about Inspirational Drawing, my online drawing workshop that will begin in September!
Subscribe to my weekly emails – Get a free mini-course!
Stop to See Your Inner World!
If you watched my recent video interview, you know that I love technology and innovations. People often say that technology is a tool. I do understand that phrase and agree with that to a certain point. But if I had to define technology, I would say that like art, it’s an experience. Whether I read about innovation in technology, or see an interesting artwork, I like to stop and think how I feel about it.
Now you might ask: “Why would I take any abstract concept or inanimate object and add emotion to it?”
My answer is: “Because that’s how you boost your imagination!”
When we see technology as a crowd in a concert or a tea cup as a gentle old lady, we will open the door to our inner world.
Often it requires that we stop. Stop taking in universal generalizations, and start adding our associations. It does not mean that you should do it all the time, but in small moments, every day. Because like Terry Pratchett has said: “Humans need fantasy to be human.”
By drawing, we can work our fantasies so that they become insights. Instead of continuously searching inspiration from outside world, we can take time for processing information inside. When we integrate our past experiences with new ones, we can have an improved view of our life as a whole. As visual people, we can produce images that have that unified vision. These kind of holistic visions are almost impossible to express with words, that’s why they are called “the big picture.”
Sign up for Inspirational Drawing 2.0!
You will learn not only practical ways for processing inspirational material
but also how to let your subconscious take control.
Produce “the big pictures” of your experiences!
>> Sign up now!
Art Is Freedom
After working against deadlines and taking care of finishing touches in the recent projects, I got a strong urge to experience and express freedom. So I decided to stretch my style by painting something that would not be so detailed. No pens this time, just acrylic paints.
Freedom for the Left Brain
I always get clarity by organizing. This time, I felt I needed to re-organize my working area. I removed storage boxes from the table and picked up only those supplies I was going to use.
Notice the grouping of paint tubes! I spent a lot of time putting each in their place.
I carefully squeezed each tube of paint to have all the colors ready to be mixed. While doing that, I thought: “THIS is freedom!” Taking time, working slowly, isn’t that the greatest luxury?
Freedom for the Right Brain
I turned the music on. The blank canvas paper was quickly filled with muddy colors. Then I took a sponge and made long strokes. Following the music is a quick way to get the creativity going.
Next, painting with fingers! No boundaries, getting messy, what a great feeling! After a while, I was ready to continue with the brushes.
Freedom can be experienced in many ways. This is what I often follow: Setting up the rules, then breaking them, then acceptance. In the last phase, whatever comes on canvas is okay.
If I listen to music, the painting will often change as the song changes. As a teenager, I used to play the same song all over again to maintain the style of the painting (must have been an agony for the rest of the family to listen to that same song for hours!) Nowadays, it is only exciting to see what will follow when the rhythm changes.
Tips for Freedom
My tips for experiencing freedom:
1) Once you start to paint, instead of gathering all the art supplies, limit what you will use. Think: “These are the only supplies that I have.” Even if it is not true, it will make the commitment stronger.
2) Listen to the music you have not heard before. It takes you off from routines. You can also play a mixture of songs that are all different and new.
3) Observe your thoughts while painting. Those crazy ideas that you normally kill – let them live this time! Be aware that your most intuitive thoughts come up and disappear quickly. Practice self-acceptance so that you will notice them!
Subscribe to my weekly emails – Get a free mini-course!