Restarting a Painting
This week, we talk about restarting an old painting or restarting creating so that we have a new confidence and freedom.
This piece called “For Liberty” was been painted on the top of an old work. It was a bit challenging to photograph because it’s painted on wooden paint board – a very smooth surface that reflects light. But before I go into more detail, I want to tell a story from my childhood that has had a big impact on me. If you have taken my classes, you might recognize my passion for acting!
“Open Your Arms”
I have been an enthusiastic actor as a teenager. Once I was the lead in a school play directed by the teacher. He was a very good director. “Spread your arms,” he told me when we were practicing a scene. For a teen, spreading the arms was a huge gesture. I still remember how my hands reluctantly opened and released from the grip. But wide open, I suddenly had a sweet sense of confidence: I owned this arena and I was going to get an audience too. Everything will be fine and even better than before!
My friend and I had been chosen to the school play because we had a private play club that we had put together. I wrote the script for the plays and we performed them to our class. It was great that our native language teacher allowed the performances. The teacher Varpu Lehtolainen and the teacher who directed the play, Taavi Lehtolainen, were married. Their creativity was inspiring. Their daughter is Leena Lehtolainen, who later became a famous author in Finland – no wonder!
Confidence for a Restart
When a person makes another person free, the feeling that he ignites is not based on successful performances in the past. The new self-confidence comes from seeing what will be possible in the future. You can go back and start over as many times as you want. Everything will be fine.
In 2020, I made an oil painting called “Wreath Maker.” However, I failed in varnishing and did not put it on display or for sale. The painting is painted on a board instead of a canvas, and it is quite challenging as a surface.
When the local artists’ association asked for works with the theme “Red, White, Blue”, I came up with the idea of sanding off the varnish and doing a new painting on top, somewhat based on the old one.
As soon as I started painting, there was this “spread your hands” feeling. I wanted to free the painting from its constraints and give the flowers their own roles.
Rubens’ paintings of battle scenes from the 17th century came to mind, and I wanted to make a grand theme too – where people wake up to defend their own values and the flags are flying high.
Restarting to Release the Visual Voice
I have painted this in parts and between the sessions, I have been building a new course, where freedom is also a central subject. I wish I could be a teacher like Taavi Lehtolainen: “Spread your hands, control your space!”
Art always does well when the flowers are allowed to grow freely and each in its own way.
A painting is released when it finds its meaning. I feel that’s what happened to this piece. The previous version was okay, but the message is now clearer, the painting is more airy, and the flowers are now more diverse and expressive.
When you want to fine-tune your visual voice, maybe this kind of freedom is what your art is lacking?
What do you think?
Start with Something – Following Picasso and Edelfelt
This week, we are using inspirational art as fuel for our own art. I show how I created my own version of Albert Edelfelt’s masterpiece by following the advice given by Pablo Picasso.
“Friends by Fate” is a small painting, but one of my favorites from the series that I made for the current exhibition. Because the title of the exhibition is Taiteilijat Edelfeltin tunnelmissa – Artists in the Mood of Edelfelt, I wanted to make my versions of some of Albert Edelfelt’s (1854-1905) artworks. For example, I made this one, and this one. “Friends by Fate” uses Albert Edelfelt’s painting “Women of Ruokolahti on the Church Hill” as inspiration.
This is a very famous painting in Finland. Even if Albert Edelfelt painted a lot of portraits of wealthy people to finance his profession, he became known for pieces like this that depict ordinary folk.
Start with Something!
I have always been intrigued by this Pablo Picasso’s (1881-1973) quote:
“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward, you can remove all traces of reality.”
In my opinion, this applies to any art, not just abstract. You can always start with something and then make your own version.
For example, even if there are people in Albert Edelfelt’s painting, it doesn’t mean that my version has to have them.
Start the painting with a similar composition, but then slowly let it grow in its own direction.
In my version, the flowers and plants replace the women, and the location is different too. I was thinking about the area where I live and how people gather together on a summer evening.
There was quite a lot of work in the details. Albert’s work is not clumsy, so I wanted mine to be well-finished too.
Following Picasso and Edelfelt
I love to paint so that flowers and plants are the characters of the painting. I feel I can combine my sense of humor with my yearning for beauty.
Flowers have given me a secret language that I can use to express anything. With this realization, I feel more and more drawn to the boldness of Pablo Picasso, the re-creator of Diego Velázquez’s 1656 masterpiece “Las Meninas”.
Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.
Albert Edelfelt was also appreciated in his lifetime, but he didn’t have the confidence that Picasso had. He wrote to his mother:
” I fear nothing else than that I become a raté – a half-talent and an unhappy person.”
(Free translation from Finnish)
This kind of seriousness is what I recognize too: puolilahjakkuus – half-talent – who would like to be that! But still – or maybe because of that, it’s good to embrace playfulness when creating art.
Like Edelfelt, you can recognize the fears and set the bar high.
But then, act like Picasso – Start with something and then ask: what could be and why not!
Finding Emotional Connection Through Imagination
Imagination and emotional connection go hand in hand in art-making. If you don’t feel a connection with what you are creating, bring in more imagination and treat different areas of your work as characters – even if you won’t be including any humans. Let’s look at this example!
This small painting is part of a series I made for the Albert Edelfelt Foundation exhibition. It will take place in August-September.
Inspired by Albert Edelfelt
For the colors and composition, I was inspired by Albert Edelfelt’s artwork “Koivujen alla – Under the Birches”. It is not this painting that I photographed in the Albert Edelfelt exhibition at the Ateneum Art Museum, but another similar work that I made a mirror image of.
However, I was more inspired by another “Koivujen alla.” See the picture here!
My version of “Koivujen alla” didn’t have any people. Instead, I used my imagination to depict human characters in the form of a plant and an object.
Combine Inspiration and Observation!
A good way to get the imagination going is to combine two different things. For example, if you saw an artwork that inspired you to create, also gather unrelated observations from your surroundings. This way, you need your imagination to bring them into the same image.
In this project, I remembered a pine seedling that I had seen in a nearby rocky forest. The name of the area is Pöllökallio (owl rock) and we often go there with our dogs. This little pine tree was like a bonsai! It was so sweet that I took a photo of it.
When the pink color of Edelfelt’s painting met a crooked stem of the pine, a tree-like rose was born!
Emotional Connection by Asking: Who is This?
The rose became the most challenging part because I wanted it to resemble the woman with a hat in Edelfelt’s painting. I thought about the hat when I painted a rose, but it didn’t work at all.
But then I came up with thinking about the character of the woman instead of her hat. That way my imagination met the emotional connection, and I quickly got the impression I wanted.
Build a Story to Boost the Emotional Connection!
One of the most common problems is that our art is full of separate islands. The sun might shine but the effect doesn’t show elsewhere. The person may smile but the eyes are not affected. There may be three ladies but what are their roles? Use your imagination to find connections between these islands and add elements that make the overall story make sense!
In my painting, there are not two women like in Edelfelt’s painting, but a rose, a leaf, and a feather – three introverts! The rose reaching for the sky has agreed to be the center point. The leaf examines herself through the pond. The feather has been a part of a bigger adventure and is now ready to shift the focus to others.
The small pond is a central element here. It brings the leaf and the feather together.
You can also see the colors of the rose elsewhere in the painting. For example, there are flying thoughts (red lines) that the rose tries to catch, and a bigger punch of roses that is in the background.
The painting is about three romantic introverts who went on a trip to a rocky forest on a lovely summer day. They are together, but in their own thoughts, just like the women in Albert Edelfelt’s painting.
When we paint or draw people, we hope to bring the character to life with their facial features. But we don’t need facial features to find an emotional connection. Once you get the hang of it, you can draw or paint anything, even just different shaped spots on paper.
What do you think?
Imagining Flower’s Spirit
When you want to draw or paint flowers that look unique and alive, imagine their spirit and discover what they would love to wear.
Art is not only about techniques and replicating what we see. When you create, you have permission to imagine and be convinced that you know something more than anyone else. You are the best scientist in your imaginary world! In your world, you can mix different fields, like botanical illustration with fashion design. That’s what I did in this painting called Kielomieli.
Kielomieli – The Mind of Lily of The Valley
We have lily the valleys growing in our yard and even though I don’t pay much attention to them, I feel like I know them. That plant spreads in the shade and may seem modest, but its mind is always alert and it observes the world sharply.
This little flower also knows how to influence people. Even before I was born, in 1967, Yleisradio, the Finnish national broadcasting company, organized a vote for Finland’s national flower and the overwhelming winner was kielo – the lily of the valley. It makes Finns kneel and admire its fine shapes. Unlike other flowers, the color is secondary to the lily of the valley, until it produces berries. With berries, it underlines that it is not just a white, innocent little flower. Everyone knows their toxicity.
The lily of the valley’s mind is a group mind where everyone dances to the same rhythm. It still doesn’t mean that a single plant would not also be an individual. She just doesn’t share her own thoughts publicly.
Many people love lily of the valleys, but this plant is not a rose that craves attention. Even if it lies low on the border of the earth, its mind is more sublime than that of other flowers. It sees far and high, and nothing can discourage it.
Choosing the Style to Go with the Spirit
When you think about the flower that you want to draw or paint, ask her about her style and aesthetics. For example, is it bohemian, classic, gothic, or country? If the flower would be a human, how would she like to dress?
Clothes can express the spirit.
In flowers, the details of petals and leaves are also very similar to the folds and seams of clothing. I often find it helpful to think about dresses, hats, and jewelry when painting plants.
I imagined the lily of the valleys to be formal and stiff. They wouldn’t wear a bathrobe in a photo but choose a classic-lined dress or a jacket. So I chose to paint them in a decorative style. First, I practiced painting roses in that way – see this blog post for more instructions!
I have noticed that making a study speeds up my painting process even if the final painting would be different.
Once I had “loaded” that decorative style to my hand, I painted Kielomieli – the lily of the valley’s spirit.
Flower’s Spirit – Flower’s Portrait!
When visualizing the flower’s spirit, think about yourself as a portrait painter.
You don’t need a face to express a flower’s spirit. When the color choices, shapes, and lines are aligned, they all paint a picture of a character.
I hope this blog post gave you new ideas to break the glass between reality and imagination!
