A Different Technique

I am off to a good start and enjoying using a different technique to paint. This technique uses squares or grids to paint various shades of color to create an interesting impressionistic final result. Yesterday I divided the canvas into various loose squares and today I will develop those squares to create a tree shape. See the painting below.

Inspiration For Next Painting

I looked around yesterday at a design store. I saw a painting of a tree that was broken up in small squares. I have decided to play around and develop a similar technique. Of course, it will never, ever end up looking like my inspiration piece, but it is a good place to start and we will see how the painting evolves. It's always good to try something new.

Try, Try Again

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. I went back and reworked my tree painting. It has much looser brushstokes and I am pleased with the result. See the painting below.

If At First You Don't Succeed

I think the tree painting got away from me and became a little overworked. I am happy with the grass in the foreground and the sky but the tree itself needs to be reworked. No big deal. Will try to rework it and paint more loosely. We will see what develops. Sometimes what is in my head is much more difficult to put on canvas. Yesterday's work is shown below.

New Painting Started

Late yesterday afternoon I quickly roughed in a painting, doing the under-painting and working wet on wet. I am happy with the results and will try to keep the loose quick brushwork look of the painting going. I do not want to overwork this painting. It is hard sometimes to stay loose with a painting. The tendency is to keep going and add detail etc. There is a definite art to knowing when to stop. See the painting below.

Chaos vs Order

I tend to be a bit messy in my work area. If everything is in its place it appears too sterile an environment. From time to time I have to organize the chaos a little. I was reminded of this when I recently watched Lust For Life about Van Gogh. Van Gogh while living in Arles was quite prolific in his work. He painted many, many works and his canvases were strewn about everywhere. When his brother Theo had Paul Gauguin come join him, Gauguin was appalled at Van Gogh's working environment. They had different personalities and different ideas about how an artist's studio should be kept. Gauguin liked everything in its place and liked to think about everything before committing to canvas and preferred working indoors. Van Gogh liked to paint outside and liked to try to capture the emotion of what he was painting and was he anything other than neat and orderly. When my work environment gets too chaotic, then I straighten up (a little). Too neat and orderly does not work for me. It stifles my creativity.

The Next Painting

It is often difficult to decide what my next painting project should be. I recently painted three paintings of groups of trees, experimenting with color and design. I have decided to paint a single red tree next, not a group of trees. I will paint it in a loose, impressionist style.
Yesterday I watched an old movie called Lust For Life which was a movie about Vincent Van Gogh. The movie got me to thinking about Van Gogh's use of color and made me want to jump in and paint with lots of vivid color and strong impasto application of the paint.