Abstract Art: A scary unknown not yet explored--no, worse, fervently avoided. As a viewer of abstract art, it is rare that I come across a work of art that I feel strongly connected to, and truly enjoy. My encounters with abstract art can sometimes feel like an endless stream of color swatches, that when done "well", are at least thought provoking in color theory and composition. The idea of creating such a portfolio of color swatches at large scale didn't and does not have an appeal to me (at least, not at this time). But that isn't all that abstract art is--and my avoidance of the subject matter in question, when confronted, was rooted in fear: What if I create bad abstract art? How does one create good abstract art? What is good art? If ever there was a type of art so easily dismissed, abstract art is surely it. I decided to create abstract art in a medium that still gave me control, so that despite an output that may appear chaotic or random, every stroke of color would be intentional: Color Pencil. Creating and exploring abstract art with color pencil turned out to be a therapeutic and enjoyable experience. While I did create artwork that once completed I did not like, I share the entirety of the journey here as art is in the eye of he beholder.
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The last piece to create for the pirate themed Pop-Up Art Bar in Tower District: The pirate! I originally wanted to create this piece with Oil Paint, as a first attempt and learning experience with Oils. But I underestimated the drying time of oil paint (I know, I know, rookie move! But hey, it was my first time using oils! Learn by doing!!) so I ended up creating an acrylic work instead. Here's what I did manage to paint before I realized that artwork deadline wasn't compatible with my personal growth goals. Eventually I will go back and work on this further. Since I still wanted to try something new, I decided to try for an impressionist style of painting with acrylic. I wanted the painting to be rich with color, so I avoided black paint. I worked from the same reference I used on the oil pirate painting. Voila! The color impressionistic painting of a pirate was created and on display at the pop-up art bar!
Continuing on the journey to create three works in one month that are pirate related... The second piece I wanted to create was a ship with pen and ink. Originally, I intended to look up what an authentic pirate ship looked like and sketch it out and ink it in. As I googled pirate ships, I was inundated with movie stills of pirate ships, which wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I decided to take my search in a new direction by researching famous pirate ships. I found a list, and in that list I found the ship I wanted to illustrate. The Whydah Galley. This large cargo ship was originally built to transport slaves, and therefore was built for speed. It was returning from it's first trip when Captain Black Sam Bellamy spotted it and decided to commandeer it. He successfully pirated with the Whydah Galley for the following year before sinking in the Nor'Easter Storm near Cape Cod in 1717. The back story made me want to illustrate this ship. I must admit, the previous-slave-ship-turned-pirate-ship appealed to me because-TAKE THAT SLAVE TRADERS!! The rest of it's history was icing on the cake. The night the Whydah Galley sank, it sank with 4.5 short tons of gold, silver and other treasures aboard. Only 7 people survived the storm and the wreckage. In 1984, the ship and it's treasures were discovered by Barry Clifford. It remains the only Pirate ship from the Golden Age of Piracy to ever be discovered. Satisfied in my research, I decided I wanted to illustrate the pirate ship on the night it sank, April 26th, 1717. Instead of making a black and white ink illustration, I was inspired to create the work in watercolor (It just seemed right) and finish it with pen and ink. Here's the thing, I don't normally work in watercolor, and I have never created artwork that I was satisfied with this medium. But I really, really felt the need to create this in watercolor; So, after a little bit of warming up and a few practice sheets, I dove right in. After painting the scene, I used an ink brush and fine tip ink pens to add the final details.
The Whydah Galley, April 26th 1717. The Fresno Zombie Society regularly organizes and hosts events in our community, and one that I love participating in is their themed pop-up art bars. In May of 2019, the theme of the pop-up art bar is Pirates, Mermaids, Sirens and all things nautical. I love utilizing these events to push my artwork in new directions. I decided to contribute three works; whether or not all three are completed in time to displayed is a whole other story; stay tuned to find out. The first work I wanted to create was a Siren piece with Oil Pastel. I was ready to create a seductive singing mermaid and began my research for inspiration. Much to my surprise, Sirens are not mermaid-like creatures but are actually much more like Harpies. Greek mythology describes Sirens as half-bird half lady creatures whose bird-like song captivated men at sea crashed their ships into rocky shores. Later in stories, their description became more humanoid. (Reference example) I decided to portray a more humanoid siren seducing a pirate with her beautiful voice, in front of a rocky shore.The work ended up being a 19" x 19" oil pastel. I think I was able to capture the balance between seductive and creepy that I was aiming for. Whether or not I revisit the composition of the work at a later date, we will see. I chose Oil Pastel as the medium because I love the vibrancy of the color and it's gestural nature.
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