The Tao of Walking Ridge

I wanted to find a handful of styles to inspire my creativity. Like a musician that finds new ideas playing country as well as blues. I call this style LineForm because it relies heavily on the shape and character of the line to imply an image.

After a bit of pencil sketching to find a form I liked, I created a digital sketch in Gimp. The digital sketch allowed me to toggle colors until I found colors I liked. It also let me see how many elements would work together. I settled on just two main elements and, therefore, chose a small format for the final painting of 8 x 10 inches. Since the emphasis is on the line form, the colors are thoroughly mixed unlike other paintings where I like to apply colors not quite fully mixed to add texture to the colors.

Morning Java - Brian Kelly, 2010 acrylic on canvas board, 8″ x 10″

I was sitting down to meditate to a CD designed to generate Gamma waves like those of monks in deep meditation. Suddenly, an image flashed into my mind. I quickly sketched the gist of the image and returned to meditation. The painting below is based on that initial image. Colors were worked out, and details were added as some meaning was attributed to the painting. Thus, rather than begin with an idea and make it abstract, this painting began with an image with no conscious meaning. Some symbolism and meaning was then attached to give me some inspiration for filling in details. The end product is not a perfect capture of the image I saw, but a blend of the image that inspired it and what happens along the way when putting paint to canvas. A bit of a surprise even to the painter, and open to multiple interpretations. Exactly my goal for an abstract painting.

Attention! - Brian Kelly, 2010 acrylic on canvas board, 11″ x 14″

I have been studying abstract art to understand sources of inspiration for abstract painting. Starting with reality and moving toward the abstract is one way. While thinking about this approach, I suddenly saw an image as I was dozing off one evening. Relating the shapes loosely to reality (a door) I actually worked backward a bit. Thus, art, like life, can happen when you are making other plans.

An unexpected bonus was that the painting does not look much like my vision. It is instead a bit of a pleasant surprise. This made the painting process especially enjoyable. I like it, but it is not yet what I see in my mind’s eye. Therefore, I will be able try some variations on this theme to see if I create something closer so it should provide inspiration for a few paintings.

Dark Door - Brian Kelly, 2010 acrylic on masonite board, 11″ x 14″