more painting

I've done quite a few new paintings recently. I haven't uploaded much to this blog but the above painting is representative of the newer work. I have also recently posted at Saatchiart.com/mteter73.

Some Thoughts on Inspiration

Why do artists create? There are as many motivations as there are artists I assume. Many artists paint, draw, sculpt, make etc. as a response to the world around them, the world which they observe. For me the greatest inspiration for my artwork is nature itself and the Creator of that nature. Artists throughout history have responded to this never ending source of inspiration. I think of the great Northern Renaissance Artist Albrecht Durer who studied nature so carefully while capturing its fleeting beauty. His great artistic skill, the ability to handle paint and other media strikes me. While viewing one of his portraits you can truly know the personality of the sitter. Vincent Van Gogh is another artist I truly admire, probably more for his passion and insight into the "invisible" world than for his technique. Although I love his use of brushstroke and color. His earlier work focussed on the "down and out" of society and he sought to bring dignity to their plight. 

At the moment I am inspired by artists who paint "alla prima" style. The paintings become a reality themselves because of the thickly painted canvas. Artists who can paint with a quick technique that is both fresh and very skillful draws my attention. The "important" details are said, those details that speak to the identity of the subject. 

Inspiration is sometimes hard to pin down. It changes with time but stays around long enough to ponder and study and if given the right mood art is created from it.

Chinese Symbols

One of the final projects I am having my students complete is to create a composition based on a word that represents them. They then research the word in Chinese and try to emulate the calligraphy of the Chinese letter styles. Finally they create the design to finish it off. 

Of course I always create finished examples for them and take off on the assignment myself. Here are some of those designs. Most was done on the ipad and developed through various apps. 

Japanese Style Print

I had fun creating this drawing. I've been practicing a lot recently with the ipad app, Zen Brush. I like the app because of the immediacy of the drawings, no pressure to create a masterpiece, just the pure joy of drawing. And it must be kept simple because the app itself is simple, not much to it like others with loads of tools and layers.
I started with Zen Brush and created the basic ink wash drawing. I then sent it over to the app, Etchings. That gave the crosshatching effect to the image. After that I used PS Touch and played with the color and saturation, I also added the scratches to the image. I finally used Pic Grunger to give some limited texture. I hope everyone enjoys it!

Little Creature

I've been working on this ipad painting for quite some time. I used the Procreate app. The bird is completely worked freehand with the details painted in after a confident contour drawing was rendered. The background was also painted with the final step being to add a slight texture layer. The subject is a female grackle, a very common bird in the Southern US. They are small unique little creatures in their own right.

New Digital Painting

I've been working on this painting for quite some time. The beautiful model is my wife. I used various techniques for the image but the majority was freehand painted with the exception of the texture layer added at the end. Texture tends to deepen the image and add intrigue.