Posted on by MarionBE

Photo Gallery: Arboreal Abstracts Painting Project

Layers and layers of colour … the paintings done in response to August’s painting project show what an array of results can come from the same set of instructions. Thanks to everyone who shared their painting.

By Brenda
Note the contrast of the red stripey bit towards the right and the birch-like quality of the white.
By Cathi: “Brenda and I did these before we watched your video. I missed the bit about trees, so they do look more like colourful barcodes! I quite like this but is a bit heavy-handed.”
By Cathi: “This looked absolutely dreadful until the very end when I added the orange and white “snow” which transformed it into abstract trees! I like the places where the colour applied was quite dry and gave a texture to the ‘trunks’. I did feel it was more contrived than the first attempt because I had trees in mind – the first one was just playing with colour.”
By Sarah: Thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. This brought me back into my painting from my other projects and reminded me of how painting and drawing relax and re-energise me.
By Eddie: “My muse is still MIA and I wasn’t going to do this one but the art room drew(!) me in. It started off as an abstract but the trees just appeared.”

From Marion: Your Muse is clearly determined that you see the trees for the wood… Isn’t is strange yet comforting how our brains lead us back to a familiar place when painting? I think it’s the part of painting that’s like meditation, and we unconsciously head that way unless we actively counter it at intervals.
By Eddie: “I did this one after looking at Rick Stevens site as you suggested. I tried very hard to use light drifts of colour, heeding Karen Margulis’ advice that, for pastel, “a light touch is the right touch”. I have tried this many times but find that using ‘sanded’ paper light drifts will start to slide before they cover the texture enough for my liking, at least in my hands. Sure enough, I got frustrated and reverted to my stab and slash technique to get the marks I wanted. Having said that, I do like the result, especially the colours, compared to my first attempt. Perhaps while my muse is sulking somewhere I should just stay in my comfort zone, waiting to emerge when she re-appears.”

From Marion: It’s not called a comfort zone for nothing, and there’s a lot to be said for seeking out that comfort, for revisiting familiar and enjoyable places real and artistic. I like this result a lot, the little slashes of colour have an energy to them that may have come from frustration but do feel so vibrant.
My finished project painting, acrylic on A4 wood panel
Detail from my painting

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