Evolution of creation - Part two

So, as promised, I have returned to the Elephant creation and thankfully I am no longer precious over this. I have been playing with 3D paints and felt that this painting needed it. So with that said and continuing with the lotus flower replication in various forms, it was time to break out the 3D paints for another exploration of the Lotus flowers.

Interestingly enough, one of my friends, who has been watching this painting unfold has reminded me that the colour and lotus is representative of the sacral chakra - swadhistana chakra, although it hadn't fully evolved at that stage. I have since added 6 further lotus petals. Though often you will see the lotus flower evolved on many levels, so the sacral chakra could still apply to this creation.

The energy and feeling of the creation certainly rises from the root chakra towards the sacral, so there is definitely an evolution being replicated in the painting. There is still more to be done with this painting, so this blog too will evolve into a 3rd part, to show its completion.

Here, is the next part of the journey -

Using 3D paint to evolve the Lotus petals

As you can see the 6th petal has not yet been finalised, sadly I ran out of Gold 3D paint, so this will have to wait to be finished. Each outer Lotus Petals has a different pattern inside, the idea shown to me was based on the fact of demonstrating uniqueness of the individual within a community. So whilst we may have similarities on the surface, we all have a unique make-up that makes us who we are and the way we think. The individual lotus petals pays homage to our differences within the wider community.

Having added the 3D Gold paint the rest of the painting now looked flat, so with that in mind it was time to raise other areas of the painting -

Peacocks and Central Area raised with 3D paints

The central area felt a little bare still and needed further definition. There was a need for the peacocks to have ripples below them. It has often been said that peacocks, fan out their feathers when it is about to rain, so the idea of blue circle ripples under the peacocks felt right. The blue dots are the connects we make to all things in life, the ebb and flow of those connections and how the bloom and grow within us before moving on.

Outlining the peacock's fan with green 3D paint, just accentuated their presence within the painting, the grace and beauty of the Peacock for all to see, to acknowledge its display in all its glory and to recognise that all things in life have a purpose. In the case of a peacock, not only to show off when in the throws of courtship but also to warn those that are aware of forthcoming rain.

Enjoy till the next time we meet ....

Getting Precious!

Dang! It's happened, started getting bogged down by the detail of the Elephant painting and so I have had to put it to one side for now and return to it when the flow is working. So, the part two update on this painting will be delayed until that time. 

Getting precious, is like hitting a brick wall at 100km/h, you become immobile and detached from the piece, specially when working in the meditation mode. So changing the focus and moving away from the painting helps to wipe the slate clean and rebuild the energy to do the painting again. In many respects it's like a writer's block, not knowing what comes next or wanting to do something with the piece just because you feel you 'have' to. There are no 'have' to do anything in artistic creation, not even with a deadline looming.

When the 'have' to moment arrives in my mind then if something is added to the painting, the painting as a whole looses its heart, its soul, it stops flowing and there is a heaviness and clumsiness about the work. Sometimes I am not aware I have taken a painting a step to far until I step away and then its - ooops - "step away from the canvas, put down your brushes, lock away the paints and go do something else.

So what did I do this time, popped in Facebook, thought about my next moves and decided to write  on my blog. Thoughts are now surrounding Owls, the painting I haven't touched for nearly over a year now and Geckos. Owls were pulling me quite strong a few days ago, however, as ever life goes on and my life that is had other greater pulls to be done - like assisting with the organic raised bed vegetable garden, shopping - basically the fabric of life.

My mind does wander and pull to the painting from over a year ago and not yet complete, it's like its tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "hey, come on finish me" lol. As for Geckos, well I have had a love of those beautiful creatures for sometime, even had a Henna Tattoo done of one, when I was in Ibiza on Holiday. The biggest call seems to be the painting from over a year ago.

The painting from over a year ago

To me this feels unfinished, at first I did feel I had completed it but as time went by the realisation that it needed to be altered came to the fore and so as I wasn't sure what needed to be changed, I left it until the time was right to paint again. This time has come.

Getting 'precious' about a painting isn't a bad thing, it just allows you to move away, focus elsewhere and come back, when you and the painting are ready to continue. Forcing the issue, will only bring more frustration and that's something an Artist doesn't need unless they are painting angry pictures. 

So much emotion goes into and is connected with the paintings I create that getting 'precious' with some will happen, by pulling away, it allows the painting and I some breathing space. I never want to paint something that doesn't feel right for me, the painting must have the feel of a soul in it, to be able to evoke an emotion, to 'switch' on a mind and interact with its viewer. That for me is my Art.

Evolution of creation

Last time, I said we would look at how my Photography helps my Art and Visa-versa, however, being a fluid, flexible, creative spirit this blog will look at a journey of  one of my latest creations. This will more than likely be a two -part blog due to the intricacies of the creation.

Each morning, I am awoken with 3 images in my head, each image relates to a different creation, so far that's surmounting to around 60 - 100 creations. Why 60 - 100? Well, that's because some of those images will probably produce more than one creation based around that image theme.

The images received, either during my dreams, upon waking or through meditation usually determine the theme and composition. The latest creation demonstrates this well. The initial images was Elephants and lotus flowers and the theme being suggested by these was one of an Indian based theme. When starting this creation, the flow or where it was going was uncertain. Maybe it was going to have some Intricate Indian patterns, from fabrics and Henna tattoos but the actual detail hadn't been decided.

One thing I was aware of was that the process would be long, detail was definitely going to be included and it would be a challenge. So far the journey with this creation hasn't disappointed me during its discovery and unveiling stage. 

The background colour had been determined by the time I was ready to begin painting. The process between seeing the imagery in my mind to its discovery and journey on Canvas can take anything from a day to a maximum of 3 weeks - it's almost like waiting for a green light on the road. Once ready the process of start to paint on canvas to absolute tools down can be quite quick - average time two days. However, it's not unusual for this second phase to take even longer.

'Getting precious' on a creation can often delay its finality. This means I have started to over think and the whole holistic approach has been lost at that moment. So, I quite literally, "Step away from the Canvas" and distract myself with other worldly matters. I have one such painting I have quite literally stepped away from for over a year now and its getting closer to re-approach the painting again.

The 'preparation' phase is where I allow the imagery to play in my mind, it's like a pre-painting stage and my mind is the canvas, the joy with this is that erasing the composition is very easy. It plays out like a dance or a film in my mind, creating and changing along the way.

The state of 'readiness' is at the point where putting brush and paint to canvas is at its optimum moment.  This state of 'readiness' is where the images have fully formed in my head and are bursting to get out. At this point, I'm usually at my most excited but also at my most nervous. It's time for the imagination to come out and play, dance upon the canvas and reveal itself in all its full glory.

To settle in, I put on some music and get into a rhythm whilst painting the background. In many ways I feel like a director of a play, awaiting for all the characters to come forth and play out the scene before me. At the same time, I never know how it will end or what twists will occur but the evolution of the creation is a fascinating process to go through.

So, now to looking at that evolution of the latest creation, starting with the Elephants and the Lotus Flower:

Here you can see the red background, the placement of the marked out Elephants within the lines of a Golden Lotus Flower

From the picture above, the shape of the elephants and how they will look are quite undefined, it was more just to gather the flow and placement at this stage. The Lotus Flower, although an outline at the moment may indeed change at a latter stage. This creation was actually started on the 1st October 2010. In fact it took two days from doing the red background and the Lotus Flower design to adding the Elephants, so this picture was taken on 3rd October 2010.

Once the Elephants had been marked in then I was ready to add a bit more definition to the Elephants:

Elephants more defined

Here, the idea was to give me an idea of some movement and position of each Elephant and definition to their tusks, to allow for further development and intricate detail to be added to the Elephants face, trunk, body and feet.

Adding a little pomp and circumstance to the Elephants was tricky, however it was important to get quite a bit of detail in

By this stage, the gold was becoming more prominent, as well as pale yellows and orange, however there needed to be a bright stark yet complimentary colour to all of these, to help bring 'punch' to the Elephants, so using an Aqua colour felt like the best choice - a delicate yet pleasant on the eye and in line with the rest of the composition.

When painting holistically - it's being drawn by what pulls you the greatest, what 'sits' well and intuitively going with that flow. Knowing something needed to be placed in the middle yet at the same time being unsure what delayed the creation once more. Again the idea of the Lotus Flower repeated was a big pull yet it also needed a difference. It was then the idea of using Peacocks in all their glory came to the forefront.

Peacocks are beautiful creatures, however, I am normally weary of using Peacocks or their feathers based on the old tale of they are 'Bad Luck', what I discovered by way of an Internet search is that they are actually not considered a 'bad omen' in India and they just happen to be India's national bird. So, the idea of the Peacock fitted with the current theme beautifully.

There is also a story in India, the god Murugan is often accompanied by a peacock. Murugan is a popular diety in the foothills of Western Tamil Madu. He is identified with Skanda, Shiva's son. Skanda's brother is Ganesha (although legend says Shiva was not his "real" father), the Elephant god. Muragan rides a peacock. Murugan is popular as a "clan" or family god. Skanda, as Skanda-Karitkeya, and Murugan both rode peacocks. Murugan's brother was Ayyappan. They were both sons of Shiva. http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/Peacocks.html

So, with this in mind the Peacocks would form the petals of the Lotus Flower:

Peacocks, unfinished added to as Lotus Flower petals to the centre

The centre still felt empty, so it needed something extra, yet at the same town adding further Lotus Flowers may possibly destroy the composition, so far, so time to think about an Indian pattern, also for some reason the need for some squareness to be added:

The full view with the intricate Indian pattern in the centre

Closer view of the pattern

Choosing the colours almost became a 'precious' moment, thankfully it didnt and so using the Aqua colour on the Elephants, the yellow, orange and now introducing some copper colouring. At this stage, I noted that some tidying up needed to be done in certain areas, as well as finishing off the peacocks.

This last photo was taken on 5th October 2010, so its taken five days to get this far and there is still a long way to go. It was at this stage a rest was needed t think about next steps.

to be continued .....