The Tao of Walking Ridge

I would guess that all creative endeavors have a work flow.  Some are obvious.  With digital photography there are many options and you will find many articles discussing work flows that aim for efficiency while still keeping track of all the photos and making backups.  I find I am developing a work flow for painting that is improving my end product and allowing me to push some creative boundaries.

By first focusing on the colors that I want to use and studying those, I am happier with the final product.  I can also explore creative options from a different perspective.  Same painting, different color strategy entirely.  I decided to add an alternate color study for my client to add to the previously posted original option.  I wanted to try a dark red.  I was not sure that it would go with the sage green room.  But, after all, it wasn’t the first choice, either.  I also wanted to show how the theme I had in mind could be cropped for a more abstract effect.  I did not feel at all that giving my customer these choices limited my creativity.  On the contrary, I could still paint all of the options and I would have one already sold!

I was also inspired by the Liquitex color mixing guide that showed a diagonal line on their hue/value chart.  This let me get my left brain involved early on, before paint hits canvas when I want my left brain to go away.  So, my quandry was how to tie dark red to sage green.  I decided to go diagonally from dark red to medium orange to a yellow orange.  Values (1 = dark, 9 = light) would go from a 3 to a 5 ish to a 7 or 8.  The high value of the yellow orange would really make that pop.  The yellow would also move over into the warmer portion of the color palette, and get closer to the green hue, hopefully getting close enough to create some harmony.

My original thought was to make the bikini of this bikini inspired abstract yellow.  A yellow bikini.  But, would that be too much? So I fired up the Gimp again and checked.  Yes.  The yellow orange was a bit too much, but more importantly the line is lost with the orange on red.  I did not spend a great deal of time getting the colors exact here.  The point was to use the computer to quickly assess several alternatives before brush hit canvas.

Clearly, the line needed to be yellow.  It also told me that when I mix the paints, I will need to look for ways to make the orange contrast with the dark red.  I may experiment with some dark purple or violet.  Since the red will be mixed with a red and black, I will have the opportunity to create subtle darker streaks making the background a bit more interesting as well.  Now, to get brush to canvas with a small sample.

Many creative people “just are” and don’t know why.  Others find creativity comes and goes.  I would be in the latter category.  The more I learn about left and right brain, the more I’m able to find ways to make my left brain “go to sleep” and stop interfering with my right brain activities.

When it comes to playing harmonica, this is helped by my left brain having no idea where the notes are.

While reading one of Dr. Betty Edwards’ new books (I can’t recall the title exactly, but she has several excellent books on art and creativity) one of the methods to trigger creativity involved boring the left brain into submission.  The exercise involved drawing so slowly, that the left brain would get bored and stop trying to draw, freeing the right brain to take charge.  While I have no doubt that this would work, it still seems painful to me.

But it may explain why I do some of my best work watching TV.  It also inspires me to find other more enjoyable ways to become bored, but allow the right brain to do some creative stuff.

It also occurs to me how Zen this is.  The harder you try, the less creative you are sometimes.  Stop trying, get bored, create more.  A paradox much like Zen.  I think I’ll meditate….with some paint and canvas nearby.

I was reading Kathy Weber’s art blog and scanning her paintings when Cove Mooring caught my eye. I liked the colors, the sailboat subject, and the feel.  When I noticed it was just 6″ x 6″ I thought to myself that I need to paint more small paintings, rather than wait and plan and occasionally do a bigger one.

I used the color mixing guide from Liquitex to fine tune my color mixes.  For the background I wanted a color a bit lighter than light magenta, but did not have any light magenta.  So I used a bit of deep magenta and white.  On the left panel I added a bit of light portrait pink to tone it down a bit, and on the right I left it a mix of red/purple colors.  The main form was created with light blue violet straight from the tube.  It was lightened with some white for highlights and darkened with some brilliant blue puple for the shadows.  The lines were brilliant purple darkened just a bit with dioxazine purple.  After selecting the colors, I realize they are from three close hues, red purple, purple, and blue purple (referred to as an analogous colors).  I think there is also a feel generated by the use of only intermediate and secondary colors, as opposed to primary colors.

The color shift from adding a bit of light portrait pink is very subtle, so I will let the customer choose a preference.  Everyone likes choices.  Also, these small 5 x 7 panels are a bit longer proportianlly than the 16 x 20 panels that are planned.  So the finished work will be cropped just a bit.

Small Color Study - 2008, acrylic on 5 x 7 inch canvas boards

I rarely work on commission.  Occasionally, I’ll receive a commission to do some photography, but I usually paint what I feel and if it sells, it sells.  If not, my home gets more decoration.

But I received a commission that was interesting.  Make the colors work in a room that was sort of a sage green, with maroon accents on the furniture, and make is sensuous.  That was it.  Clearly, the color was critical.  Also, I could pick a theme that might be entirely unacceptable to the customer.  So rather than waste paint on a full sized painting straight away, I decided to paint a smaller scale version to check the theme and colors.  This meant that I had to take careful notes on what color I used in order to be able to scale it up.

Once I picked the general color palette, a pink, a moroon, and a blue-violet, I wasn’t sure which one I wanted as the background/primary form/accent line.  I used Gimp to check this with some colors that were close, and tried a few others as well.  I settled upon this basic vision.  The next step was to mix the three colors of the painting with specific notes so I could replicate them on the full sized painting.

Rather than try and match the sage green walls of the room, I chose colors that should compliment it, with just a little moroon that would pick up the color in the furniture.

I like to take photos in available light when I can.  I can add a strong flash and light the place up, but my Nikon D-100 with a F1.4 50mm lens will do a pretty good job of grabbing an image with existing light.  Of course, this means running the lens wide open (F1.4) with a high ISO setting (1600) to get a decent shutter speed (around 1/60).  This picture could not be taken with a flash.  Mike (out of focus) would be much brighter than Kat (with the smile) since he is much nearer the camera.  But with available light, the exposure of both is in range, and the small focal length of the lens wide open draws your attention to Kat.  Converting the picture to black and white also removes distractions of color distortions that can occur at high ISO settings.

While travelling in Toluca Mexico a few years ago I took several snapshots.  While browsing through them recently, this photograph stood out.  To me, it captured the feel of the area.  Few windows.  Humble trasportation.  Single story buildings.  Concrete rather than wood frame construction.  Colors that are somewhere between bright and faded.  Taken without forethought, just reacting to the moment.  Inspiration for a future painting…