I didn't know what to do this week, so I settled on putting together this painting. I tried about a dozen different concepts while organizing this image. All of them failed, yet steadily came together to form the picture you see. In a weird way the failures became the success. That's one of those rare instances one is loathe to put into writing because it feels so bluntly symbolic and fictitious, but that's the sad truth of reality: there are moments that feel too unreal; and although people tend to doubt their authenticity, those are the instances people are looking for.
This painting started with me trying to do a blend of charcoal and acrylic paint. The charcoal provided a skeleton, or frame of sorts, and the acrylic was meant to offer color. However, the initial image didn't amount to much, so I started expanding the acrylic into something more definite. When I mucked up that endeavor I simply kept spreading red in frustration, hence the background. Once the red paint dried I attempted the charcoal again, and without aiming towards some kind of Lovecraftian nebulous tentacled horror I ended up with the image below. Sometimes it's best to stop thinking.
As usual, after taking several photos I retreated to my computer where I started playing around with a few digital tools. Mainly I wanted to bring out the colors more, especially the green. I altered a few light levels, upped the saturation, and attempting to calm an unpleasant brightness near the top I ended up casting the somewhat turquoise wash across the upper background. I kept it because I thought it added to the piece, but I don't want to give the impression I hand painted it. I do what I can, the computer helps with the rest; however, that said, once again the success from failure arises. If I'd done a better job lighting in the first place there wouldn't have been an unpleasant bright spot across the canvas, and I would never have tried to alter it out, an endeavor that led to the shimmering wash across the top.
In any event, I want to call this one "Godhead." It seems to fit, though the title is unfortunately confining. Like I said, I see some type of tentacle cosmic horror, but that's just my impression. When something is abstract I feel like a confining title limits the imagination until I start realizing such confines don't at all limit the ways people react to a concept. See it the way you want to. If you feel like it, turn it upside down, sidewise, or whatever until something pops into your head. And feel free to leave your impressions in the comments. Let me know what you saw.
This painting started with me trying to do a blend of charcoal and acrylic paint. The charcoal provided a skeleton, or frame of sorts, and the acrylic was meant to offer color. However, the initial image didn't amount to much, so I started expanding the acrylic into something more definite. When I mucked up that endeavor I simply kept spreading red in frustration, hence the background. Once the red paint dried I attempted the charcoal again, and without aiming towards some kind of Lovecraftian nebulous tentacled horror I ended up with the image below. Sometimes it's best to stop thinking.
As usual, after taking several photos I retreated to my computer where I started playing around with a few digital tools. Mainly I wanted to bring out the colors more, especially the green. I altered a few light levels, upped the saturation, and attempting to calm an unpleasant brightness near the top I ended up casting the somewhat turquoise wash across the upper background. I kept it because I thought it added to the piece, but I don't want to give the impression I hand painted it. I do what I can, the computer helps with the rest; however, that said, once again the success from failure arises. If I'd done a better job lighting in the first place there wouldn't have been an unpleasant bright spot across the canvas, and I would never have tried to alter it out, an endeavor that led to the shimmering wash across the top.
In any event, I want to call this one "Godhead." It seems to fit, though the title is unfortunately confining. Like I said, I see some type of tentacle cosmic horror, but that's just my impression. When something is abstract I feel like a confining title limits the imagination until I start realizing such confines don't at all limit the ways people react to a concept. See it the way you want to. If you feel like it, turn it upside down, sidewise, or whatever until something pops into your head. And feel free to leave your impressions in the comments. Let me know what you saw.
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