January 2nd....survival its called!

Well I hope some of you liked that episode. If you had trouble seeing it all let me know! There's a couple more done that are pretty handy for entertainment and to pick up a few hints on my painting technique. Let me know your thoughts on this one if you have a moment.

Anyhow, with much difficulty I survived the slide out of the recession wracked 2009 into, the hopefully more promising, 2010 with a slight hangover! Those around me did much the same with much the same outcome to their personal well being. So its into a new year with power, purpose and promise!

Ok, first its another installment of that chapter in my book. This book is the book that it claims to be. Believe me. The real drive behind being a successful artist is being able to connect to others, visually. And that gets down to understanding human nature-specifically, the psychology of human behaviour.So the parts I'm putting up at the moment are a prelude to this nitty gritty material.


Here we go.......

A horizontal line (1) for example is associated with a stationary or sitting image and a feeling of tranquility while that same line turned on its end in a vertical position (2) suggests impending activity and a feeling of confidence, steadfastness and pride. Shapes like squares, circles and triangles likewise suggest other feelings and evoke another set of emotions. The square (3) is masculine, abrupt and mechanical while the circle (4) is feminine, passive, and a symbol of harmony.

Even how I have filled the shapes in suggests something. The variation in stroke length and the switch in angle is associated with activity and energy. The tempo of association imparted by the shape can be altered by the technique of blocking in! Every mark has a meaning.

What do we make of this? Is it uphill or downhill? If your first language is English it is uphill; if Chinese its downhill. (English readers read left to right while Chinese are right to left.) If this is a defining mark in a painting the painting’s meaning can be affected depending on the language orientation of the viewer.

                                          

These marks in full assembly constitute a drawing of a friend of mine-Spanner; simple case of marks working together. There is energy in the message though, through the variation of length, angle and weight of the marks. The marks were done with a black pen. The tone was pretty much the same for each mark left by each stroke however by working the density of the marks I was able to shift the tone and thereby create shape and contour and give definition where needed. By staying with one instrument of one color and thickness I limited myself to exploring the subject by moving across only these 2 properties.

By going into color and using more tools the possible interpretations of a subject is expanded enormously. All the properties are explored. The only limit to the assembly is in the skill, technique, knowledge and imagination of the painter.


More later.....