I decided to make a movie about the experience ....
so here it is ...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
FIN
Well all good things must come to an end right? SO here is the end of a wonderfully long project.
As I had stated in the last entry the only things I had left to accomplish were details, you know, feathers and such.
Though they may be just feathers ... they were painfully crafted.
Here are the last few pictures of my work.
FIN!
As I had stated in the last entry the only things I had left to accomplish were details, you know, feathers and such.
Though they may be just feathers ... they were painfully crafted.
Here are the last few pictures of my work.
FIN!
Monday, May 12, 2008
PhAsE 3 N 1/2
Ahhh the last meeting of me and my mentor. You know what that means! What was that? Critique? Well yes, but the point that I was making was the fact that this project is coming to and end!
But yes Ms. Needham had a few critiques to make towards my work. She explained that it was my piece , however I really needed to be careful of how liberal I get with the paint!
...on my carpet that is.
You see when we had begun this project she had told me that I need to find a place , quiet of course, that I would feel comfortable in and a place that I would be painting in every time. So I chose the entertainment room. Consequently the room is carpeted....lol!! So she just suggested that I be careful not to mess the room too much!
Anyway here are a few pictures... just in case you couldn't picture it in your head !
: ]
But yes Ms. Needham had a few critiques to make towards my work. She explained that it was my piece , however I really needed to be careful of how liberal I get with the paint!
...on my carpet that is.
You see when we had begun this project she had told me that I need to find a place , quiet of course, that I would feel comfortable in and a place that I would be painting in every time. So I chose the entertainment room. Consequently the room is carpeted....lol!! So she just suggested that I be careful not to mess the room too much!
Anyway here are a few pictures... just in case you couldn't picture it in your head !
: ]
Phase trois
Well I have painstakingly worked ... and worked and here is the next part of my painting.
Here is what I have turned out...
You can see the progression of the birds going from picture to picture.
I have come to the realization that birds ...of all things I should have to learn to paint... are particularly hard to create. This is because the complexity and detail that has to go into them.
And I quote " Are you sure that the bird couldn't fly with ...oh let's say 15 feathers instead of 90? I think they could!" -me trying to get out of giving the birds more than 10 feathers. Trying being the key and operative word in that statement.
And here is a more developed picture of what is turning out . From here on out all I have to accomplish is detail...detail, detail, detail.
Great enough for me that will probably be the slowest process of them all! What fun.
I will admit that ,for as much as I have complained throughout this blog , this is probably been the most fun I've had in a while! It's amazing how intricate a portrait can be. Or how much work can be put into something like a feather ... or a beak. ( crafty little buggers) But I wouldn't change ANYTHING about what I've had to do.
p.s. I'M ALMOST DONE !!!!!!!YAY!!!!!
Here is what I have turned out...
You can see the progression of the birds going from picture to picture.
I have come to the realization that birds ...of all things I should have to learn to paint... are particularly hard to create. This is because the complexity and detail that has to go into them.
And I quote " Are you sure that the bird couldn't fly with ...oh let's say 15 feathers instead of 90? I think they could!" -me trying to get out of giving the birds more than 10 feathers. Trying being the key and operative word in that statement.
And here is a more developed picture of what is turning out . From here on out all I have to accomplish is detail...detail, detail, detail.
Great enough for me that will probably be the slowest process of them all! What fun.
I will admit that ,for as much as I have complained throughout this blog , this is probably been the most fun I've had in a while! It's amazing how intricate a portrait can be. Or how much work can be put into something like a feather ... or a beak. ( crafty little buggers) But I wouldn't change ANYTHING about what I've had to do.
p.s. I'M ALMOST DONE !!!!!!!YAY!!!!!
Phase 2
Well here is phase two of my painting.
What I have don here is the tree its self. I used an acrylic paint as my medium of choice. I used a green called " evergreen" not really specific , I know , but it's oh so pretty .
Before I had actually painted the tree I used a white oil pastel to draw the outline of the tree.. and the basic shapes of the 5 birds.
I learned something wonderful about oil pastels. On a canvas that has already been painted ... they erase with water !! I found this to be quite wonderful...considering I messed up quite frequently!
I never knew how much work is really involved with painting! I always thought that an artist just waltzes in and in a whirl of paint , canvas and brushes a master piece is born. WRONG! I have come to grips with reality that painting is a layered process that can take many months depending on what you are creating... unfortunately I don't have that long. So I will push on with completing my work of art!
Untill then here is what I've done so far. Exciting !
What I have don here is the tree its self. I used an acrylic paint as my medium of choice. I used a green called " evergreen" not really specific , I know , but it's oh so pretty .
Before I had actually painted the tree I used a white oil pastel to draw the outline of the tree.. and the basic shapes of the 5 birds.
I learned something wonderful about oil pastels. On a canvas that has already been painted ... they erase with water !! I found this to be quite wonderful...considering I messed up quite frequently!
I never knew how much work is really involved with painting! I always thought that an artist just waltzes in and in a whirl of paint , canvas and brushes a master piece is born. WRONG! I have come to grips with reality that painting is a layered process that can take many months depending on what you are creating... unfortunately I don't have that long. So I will push on with completing my work of art!
Untill then here is what I've done so far. Exciting !
Phase 1
Okay ...so here is the low down on how this will work. My project , as you have probably read, is a painting of "The tree of life".
[Tree of life]
-This is a painting that was created in Egypt , about the time when the Greeks and Romans were beginning to heavily influence the Egyptian culture.
- The tree is a symbol of life. It stands tall , just as we do in life. On the tree, among branches birds and leaves there are 5 birds. each bird has a different time frame for the life of a person , or creature.
{Grey bird} This is the first bird on the tree. It is the lowest bird in the tree as well. This bird stands for infancy. It is generally small in size and grayish blueish in color.
{red bird} The second bird on the tree. It is placed right above the gray bird. The red bird is slightly bigger than the gray bird. Something else about the red bird , it's head is slightly angled up, to symbolize the beginning of thought, seeing as this bird stands for childhood.
{ Green bird} The green bird is the bird that stands for adolescence. A note about it , it is the highest bird on the entire tree. Countless discussions have been held on whether the significance is for the height of a persons life, or whether it deals with the state of the mind during that time. In other words teens with their heads in the clouds.
Side note : This is lengthy ... but I'm trying to mix it up so it is not that monotonous.
{Blue bird} Here the blue bird stands for the adult stage of life. It creates a triangle between the red and green birds. This is also the only bird with its wings spread out.
and finally...
{ Orange bird} The last bird on the tree. In height it is between the red and gray birds, although it is on the other side of the tree. A note about it though, it is the only bird facing the left side of the canvas. This is a symbol of death. As grotesque as it may seem , in most Egyptian paintings, carvings , pottery , etc. death or the elderly, were always facing the west. They did this because of the belief that when you died you spirit followed the sun god to the west .... which is the way the sun sets.( cool huh?)
Any how here are a few pictures of the beginning of the process.
All I have here is the back ground of what will be my wondermus ( not really a word , but here I find it to be fitting.) painting.
The middle of the beginning....
Soooo close.....
a close up of ...soooo close
Finished! ...with the beginning .
[Tree of life]
-This is a painting that was created in Egypt , about the time when the Greeks and Romans were beginning to heavily influence the Egyptian culture.
- The tree is a symbol of life. It stands tall , just as we do in life. On the tree, among branches birds and leaves there are 5 birds. each bird has a different time frame for the life of a person , or creature.
{Grey bird} This is the first bird on the tree. It is the lowest bird in the tree as well. This bird stands for infancy. It is generally small in size and grayish blueish in color.
{red bird} The second bird on the tree. It is placed right above the gray bird. The red bird is slightly bigger than the gray bird. Something else about the red bird , it's head is slightly angled up, to symbolize the beginning of thought, seeing as this bird stands for childhood.
{ Green bird} The green bird is the bird that stands for adolescence. A note about it , it is the highest bird on the entire tree. Countless discussions have been held on whether the significance is for the height of a persons life, or whether it deals with the state of the mind during that time. In other words teens with their heads in the clouds.
Side note : This is lengthy ... but I'm trying to mix it up so it is not that monotonous.
{Blue bird} Here the blue bird stands for the adult stage of life. It creates a triangle between the red and green birds. This is also the only bird with its wings spread out.
and finally...
{ Orange bird} The last bird on the tree. In height it is between the red and gray birds, although it is on the other side of the tree. A note about it though, it is the only bird facing the left side of the canvas. This is a symbol of death. As grotesque as it may seem , in most Egyptian paintings, carvings , pottery , etc. death or the elderly, were always facing the west. They did this because of the belief that when you died you spirit followed the sun god to the west .... which is the way the sun sets.( cool huh?)
Any how here are a few pictures of the beginning of the process.
All I have here is the back ground of what will be my wondermus ( not really a word , but here I find it to be fitting.) painting.
The middle of the beginning....
Soooo close.....
a close up of ...soooo close
Finished! ...with the beginning .
Inspiration...
Well I guess that I should probably explain why I decided to use the entertaining topic of Egyptian art as a project title... well the answer to that is simple, childhood dreams.
Let me elaborate
Since I was a little kid I had always had a certain fascination with Egypt. It was a sort of ideal , and dream that followed just about everything i did...usually. One of the main memeories of my ongoing inetrest in Egypt was when ever my family would sit down and have discussions of where the family should go on our summer vacation, I always voted with a resounding "Egypt , please!". Unfortunately I was easily overlooked .
So I guess that this has been a MARVELOUS opportunity to "excavate" my interest in the ancient times of one of the most well known countries in the world. Fun! Oui?
OHH I almost forgot !! My very kind and creative mentor.
Let me introduce Lynn Needham.
She works as an independent artist in Charlotte. Free lance mostly, however she has been kind enough to agree to be my mentor on the project.
Needless to say I will be spending much time with her! FUN FUN!
Let me elaborate
Since I was a little kid I had always had a certain fascination with Egypt. It was a sort of ideal , and dream that followed just about everything i did...usually. One of the main memeories of my ongoing inetrest in Egypt was when ever my family would sit down and have discussions of where the family should go on our summer vacation, I always voted with a resounding "Egypt , please!". Unfortunately I was easily overlooked .
So I guess that this has been a MARVELOUS opportunity to "excavate" my interest in the ancient times of one of the most well known countries in the world. Fun! Oui?
OHH I almost forgot !! My very kind and creative mentor.
Let me introduce Lynn Needham.
She works as an independent artist in Charlotte. Free lance mostly, however she has been kind enough to agree to be my mentor on the project.
Needless to say I will be spending much time with her! FUN FUN!
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