A welcome visitor
Hello!
I guess one could call it a New Year's resolution, I've told myself that I will create more art for myself this year. Don't get me wrong, illustration can be rewarding and interesting, but it can also involve a deal of compromise that can leave an artist wondering what his or her art might look like if it were wholly self guided. No doubt, much of my voice often seeps through any assignment, but I am still trying to please someone more than myself. So, what would I want to paint? To tell you the truth, I found that a bit of an overwhelming question. Too many different directions come to mind, it's hard to know which way to go and when to pause and further explore any given idea. I've become so accustomed to being given the dimensions, subject matter and a time frame to work within, it's sort of strange for there to be no pre-set parameters. I started sketching and sketching, revising and changing both the subject and environment, presumably it could have gone on forever but I was eager to paint. I decided to settle on one idea with the idea in mind that I would simply observe what I liked about it and what I'd like to see more of, and with the next piece I could refine my direction. It's a little less overwhelming to think of it more a journey and exploration. A recent experience spawned a concept...
Last Halloween I went to a steampunk themed event, though I didn't happen to have a steampunk costume in my closet I wore something vaguely related. A little too high-tech I suppose, but it was the closest thing I had on hand:
Someone came up to me and commented about how she never sees steampunk villains, and judged me to be one. For some reason, that judgement struck me as funny- who said I was a villain? Yes, there's a skull in there, but I think it's more of a cultural conditioning of ours to equate skulls with evil. Snakes are the devil in some religions, and worshipped as gods in others. I'm told in Japan the color white is correlated with death, so it's all quite subjective depending on one's vantage point.
That experience reminded me of reoccurring themes in the interviews I've given over the years, where I'll often comment that my Lovecraftian creatures don't really seem evil to me and that I see more of an alien sense of wonder in them. Perhaps it's the lighting or inhuman anatomy and textures in the paintings that are commonly associated with 'bad guys' that makes the sense of wonder harder for others to perceive? This question sparked the inspiration for my latest painting, what if some of the context were to change- would that change people's perceptions? The current working title is 'A Welcome Visitor', acrylic 13x13":
I'd enjoy hearing people's impressions on this one. Oh, by the way, for some reason my blog software took it's sweet time letting me know there were some comments waiting to be approved from my last entry. I only just discovered them a couple days back but I did appreciate and reply to them. Thanks!
Some might recall a portrait painting I did of Lovecraft for Miskatonic River Press, it's now in print and ready for orders:
cheers!
~Paul
I guess one could call it a New Year's resolution, I've told myself that I will create more art for myself this year. Don't get me wrong, illustration can be rewarding and interesting, but it can also involve a deal of compromise that can leave an artist wondering what his or her art might look like if it were wholly self guided. No doubt, much of my voice often seeps through any assignment, but I am still trying to please someone more than myself. So, what would I want to paint? To tell you the truth, I found that a bit of an overwhelming question. Too many different directions come to mind, it's hard to know which way to go and when to pause and further explore any given idea. I've become so accustomed to being given the dimensions, subject matter and a time frame to work within, it's sort of strange for there to be no pre-set parameters. I started sketching and sketching, revising and changing both the subject and environment, presumably it could have gone on forever but I was eager to paint. I decided to settle on one idea with the idea in mind that I would simply observe what I liked about it and what I'd like to see more of, and with the next piece I could refine my direction. It's a little less overwhelming to think of it more a journey and exploration. A recent experience spawned a concept...
Last Halloween I went to a steampunk themed event, though I didn't happen to have a steampunk costume in my closet I wore something vaguely related. A little too high-tech I suppose, but it was the closest thing I had on hand:
Someone came up to me and commented about how she never sees steampunk villains, and judged me to be one. For some reason, that judgement struck me as funny- who said I was a villain? Yes, there's a skull in there, but I think it's more of a cultural conditioning of ours to equate skulls with evil. Snakes are the devil in some religions, and worshipped as gods in others. I'm told in Japan the color white is correlated with death, so it's all quite subjective depending on one's vantage point.
That experience reminded me of reoccurring themes in the interviews I've given over the years, where I'll often comment that my Lovecraftian creatures don't really seem evil to me and that I see more of an alien sense of wonder in them. Perhaps it's the lighting or inhuman anatomy and textures in the paintings that are commonly associated with 'bad guys' that makes the sense of wonder harder for others to perceive? This question sparked the inspiration for my latest painting, what if some of the context were to change- would that change people's perceptions? The current working title is 'A Welcome Visitor', acrylic 13x13":
I'd enjoy hearing people's impressions on this one. Oh, by the way, for some reason my blog software took it's sweet time letting me know there were some comments waiting to be approved from my last entry. I only just discovered them a couple days back but I did appreciate and reply to them. Thanks!
Some might recall a portrait painting I did of Lovecraft for Miskatonic River Press, it's now in print and ready for orders:
cheers!
~Paul
Nice to hear you are able to find some "you time", boss.
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Thanks for your comments, Duffy! Maybe it would be impossible to override our cultural programming, perhaps that kind of things takes generations. But, if the painting brings the viewer's perception to somewhere in the middle, even to an area of uncertainty (whether this being is benevolent or malign), I'm fine with that!
next up... more gnomes!!!!
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Maybe you gotta have pictures of them doing everyday things like walking the dog, vaccuming, or playing poker? Desensitize people with something familar.
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That's not a bad idea, Duffy, thanks! Though I am hesitant to paint domestic scenes, as they don't excite me as an artist to paint (hence my interest in the otherworldly, alien and fantastic). But, perhaps there are other ways to convey the same idea while still keeping it fun for me. hmmmmm.......
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Your painting is cool Paul. I feel deeply immersed in the forest, and looking at the creature so bright it glows. Nice job from a fellow painter. Stephen Gray
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Stephen, I appreciate your comments, thank you. I am glad you could get into the atmosphere of the painting!
~Paul
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