Got Down Too Tight
I did this painting in Rebelle and Painter 2016. I started it in Rebelle with a wash of watercolors and lots of drips. Then I brought it into Painter and used the equivalent of acrylic brushes to finish the painting.
A Burst of Thunder
I started this painting in Rebelle, like I do all my paintings any more.
I used watercolors and inks and lots of drips.
Then, I brought it into Painter and finished it with acrylic brushes using the new dynamic speckle bristle brushes.
I’m not entirely happy with this piece. I have been very frustrated with my abstracts lately. That must mean I’m about to change how I paint. I don’t know what’s coming, but I’m excited.
I started painting in September 2012. To be honest, I wasn’t very good. I have worked hard at my art and painting, and I know I have improved. I just want to get really good now!
Many artists find a style and stick with it. I don’t want to do that. I want to keep what is mine and unique, but I want to grow as an artist.
I got a video from an artist by the name of John Salminen. He is drop-dead fantastic. Check him out John Salminen.
To me, his abstracts look like realistic paintings and his realistic work looks like abstracts. He does cityscapes and is fantastic at them. I hope his video will be as inspiring as his paintings are.
Zany Daze
This is a painting that I wasn’t going to post. I’m not 100% happy with it. However, I posted it on Instagram, and it did very well, and even got featured. So I figured it must have some redeeming value.
It bothers me because it seems to just wander around and not go anywhere. The parts don’t make sense.
I’d be interested in what you think. You can probably see why I named it Zany Daze.
I started this painting in Rebelle with watercolors and inks and then moved it into Painter to finish it. I am finding that in some areas, Rebelle is lacking. Not in many ways, but in just a few. It is easier to finish these paintings in Painter.
Pouring Down
I am very happy with this painting. It pulls together many things I have tried to do in my paintings for some time.
First, lights and darks. It sounds simple to just use lights and darks in one’s art. But it is very hard to get the right balance of lights and darks. They are what will make a painting “pop”.
Next, different textures. Texture in the painting will make it more interesting and keep the viewer involved. I was finally able to make a brush in Painter that picks up paper grain. In Painter, I can bring in any paper textures I want. I bring in papers of all kinds. I have papers from real-world media and Ih have papers of rocks, bark and just about anything you can think of.
I used some geometric brushes that I made in this piece. If you look, you can see triangles throughout the piece. Those were the stamp brush.
I tried to pay closer attention to composition in this work. I tried to give the eye a path to walk. Not that you have to walk that exact path, go where you want.
As usual, I started this painting in Rebelle with watercolors and inks and then took it into Painter.
Down A Geometric Alley
This painting is a bit different for me. I’ve tried very hard to put a bit more composition in my paintings.
The art rules say that one should try to lead the eye around in the painting by use of color, lights and darks, contrast and shapes.
In this painting, I tried to lead your eye around with various shapes.
I have mixed feelings about this. I know there needs to be an order in the chaos of my paintings. But, I don’t want to force someone’s eye to go where they don’t want it to go. When I view abstract art, I like to give my eye free reign to find whatever it is my imagination wants to see.
I’m going to work on these various ways of leading the eye for a bit in my next few paintings.
So beware, you may go where you don’t plan on going.
Rainy Day Dreams
I have to say that I am feeling so much better. Better than I have felt in 20 years or so. Lyme disease, which I have in addition to fibromyalgia, has more than just one germ that needs to be eradicated. Finally, my lyme physician has put me on yet another antibiotic that treats one of these germs.
I have had an amazing reaction to it. While I was in Maui in October and November, I was able to walk one and one-half miles. This may not sound like much to anyone. But for me, it has been amazing. I haven’t been able to walk much more than about two blocks or so at a time. Yes, I have walked longer at times, but then came home exhausted and would have to rest for many days, sometimes, weeks.
But in Maui, I did this and was able to keep going back for more.
Inside of me there has been this heaviness, that pulls me down. It has been there for over 20 years. That is finally going away. This is very exciting for me.
My creativity also seems to be increasing. That is really exciting.
As to this painting. I started it in Rebelle with watercolors. I just poured on watercolors in various bright shades and made them very thick and let them pour down.
Then, I took the painting into Painter. I used some of Painter’s new brushes called Dynamic Speckle brushes. I used them to further refine the shapes that I found. Then I took pencils and did some outlining of shapes. This was a very fun painting to do.
I gave it this name, because I started it on a very dark dreary day, and I was dreaming of bright colors that hopefully will come after the first of the year.
Glorious Morning
This is a painting I did while we were still in Maui. I was very influenced by the gorgeous flowers in Maui. Tropical flowers are so bright and have such beautiful shapes.
I think of this as abstract flowers. I was showing more the shapes and colors than actual flowers that I saw.
I work on my abstracts in layers. I start with a painting in Rebelle, making lots of drips and using the pen to make lots of lines. Then, when I bring the painting into Painter, I look around for shapes and colors that I like, and that is how my paintings grow.
Kerry C. Mitchell's Adventures 