Final Thoughts. When I began this journey I started with some questions to guide my process. My questions began with, "How do you even start creating a painting?" As Bob Ross said to me over and over... All you have to do is decide, and that will be the right decision. Pick up your brush and put the paint onto the canvas. That is how you start. There is no need to be afraid, anything you do, you can undo. Just like I tell teachers who are afriad of computers. We can always fix anything that you could possibly do.
Each painting medium has a technique to make that medium work best. As I learned from my first Super-Fantastic Failure, to my more evolved paintings, it is best not to use techniques that are for another paint. The evolution of painting bears this truism out. When cave men first scratched on the walls of their caves with the only thing available, rocks, and other colorful items they found lying around, they used a rough style to convey quick messages, probably religious ones. The Egyptians used minerals mixed with a bonding agent such as sap, or insect guts to contain the minerals in their paint. Their style is very linear with robust colors that really pop out at you. Their technique is best suited for tomb and temple walls in religious ceremonies. In the Roman Era art was used to commemorate events, such as the conuering of an enemy city, like Carthage. The Medieval era is fascinating to me. They used dye's and cloth to weave huge tapestries for artistic and instructional purposes. Most medieval art warned against sin. The reniassance is where we start to get a lot of oil based paint used. Most probably due to increased travel and trade within Europe with the rise of the merchant class. The paintings are scientific in nature, trying to understand the world and man's place within it. They are meant to be pleasing to the eye and hung in homes to beautify their surroundings. If we take the history of art we can see that it has been used to convey complex ideas to the masses, as well as to just be art for art's sake.
I enjoy painting winter scenes. I lived in North Carolina for a number of years and I really enjoyed the Winter there. It would snow and then a couple of days later the snow would be gone. You get the fun of playing in it, without the mess of living in it for a long period of time. I think I'll continue to paint winter scenes. My last two seem to be good enough to sell. I don't think I am going to sell them, but give them to family members for Christmas presents. Infact I belive one of my cohort mated made a comment about that on the blog.
All in all this has been a positive journey, and not the end in any way. I am going to continue to paint.
Each painting medium has a technique to make that medium work best. As I learned from my first Super-Fantastic Failure, to my more evolved paintings, it is best not to use techniques that are for another paint. The evolution of painting bears this truism out. When cave men first scratched on the walls of their caves with the only thing available, rocks, and other colorful items they found lying around, they used a rough style to convey quick messages, probably religious ones. The Egyptians used minerals mixed with a bonding agent such as sap, or insect guts to contain the minerals in their paint. Their style is very linear with robust colors that really pop out at you. Their technique is best suited for tomb and temple walls in religious ceremonies. In the Roman Era art was used to commemorate events, such as the conuering of an enemy city, like Carthage. The Medieval era is fascinating to me. They used dye's and cloth to weave huge tapestries for artistic and instructional purposes. Most medieval art warned against sin. The reniassance is where we start to get a lot of oil based paint used. Most probably due to increased travel and trade within Europe with the rise of the merchant class. The paintings are scientific in nature, trying to understand the world and man's place within it. They are meant to be pleasing to the eye and hung in homes to beautify their surroundings. If we take the history of art we can see that it has been used to convey complex ideas to the masses, as well as to just be art for art's sake.
I enjoy painting winter scenes. I lived in North Carolina for a number of years and I really enjoyed the Winter there. It would snow and then a couple of days later the snow would be gone. You get the fun of playing in it, without the mess of living in it for a long period of time. I think I'll continue to paint winter scenes. My last two seem to be good enough to sell. I don't think I am going to sell them, but give them to family members for Christmas presents. Infact I belive one of my cohort mated made a comment about that on the blog.
All in all this has been a positive journey, and not the end in any way. I am going to continue to paint.