Brushstrokes's Importance

I could have called this post "How to find your style in oil or acrylic...", but it's actually applicable for different techniques.

Artists sometimes think too much about brushstrokes, so much that they lose spontaneity, and it's not pleasant to see a non spontaneous painting, which has been too thoughtful, as if the hand had not known exactly what to do in each case. Others, try to make the brushstroke not to be noticed as if they were afraid of mistaking. All these is normal when we start to learn how to do things, but it's clealy shown in the final artwork.

Talking about this, there is a style that stands out by the force and the thickness of the stroke, without being impressionist, that plays with lights and shadows in such a way that the elements seem to shine from the canvas, almost as if it were a 3d effect. Obviously, only a very experienced hand can do this, taking the eye of the viewer to the whole work and giving it a relief that it still don't have.

It is surprising how this type of work, even without being realistic, may look like that providing an interesting visual game that leads us to complete the missing blur.

Therefore, it is important that we don't hesitate in every brushstroke, that our mental object can be represented by our hand beyond the hyperealist vision without losing the accuracy of what we want to show. Sometimes this takes months, other years, it all depends on how much we practice and how much we let ourselves go with regard to our own vision of things. We don't have to fear or hesitate when painting since sometimes it's better to make mistakes and learn from them than have lot of shy arts from which we learned nothing. 

As an example of this kind of artworks, I want to show you Samantha Black's ones. Currently, she basically works with oil and acrylic and she always knows how strong, thik, clear or dark the stroke has to be in order to give the viewer the perfect idea of what she wants to show. Click on the images to enlarge them and see her work on detail, you'll find she developed other styles with great skill to represent beauty as well. 

Beauty and Innocence

Hello my friends! Today I want to talk about Ashley Gore and her artworks. I use to give some advices and tips and then put an artist as an example, but this time I prefer talking about this artist since her work caught my attention in more than one sense. 

As you can read in her site: http://agore72185.wixsite.com/ashleyartgallery , she has a disease that she struggles with every day and which could be an obstacle for anyone but she decided to do something positive about it. What calls my attention the most in addition to the brave way she faces life it's how she transmits it through art. When we see her works, mostly made in acrylic, the first thing that comes to our mind is an innocent style that looks at life with a very particular candor. 

Her work is soft, delicate, feminine, with subtle lines and colors that celebrate life. Her works have a distinctive but not overwhelming symbolism, which leads us to see beyond the simple elements. In many of her works this artist seems to have a close relationship with nature, in how it is modified and what can affect it. She eliminates some superfluous elements of realism to add her own that give us a more intense vision of what she wants to express, such as a particular use of light that takes our eye to the right place, close-ups that indicate its importance and the playfulness between colors and lines.

Likewise, at some point she secretly reveals her pain, not as a complaint, but as a simple commentary on life which makes it even more revealing. In her work "She's gone" (you can find it below), for example, in that case she has an impressive creativity to show a fact of life (which can touch both physically and emotionally) from a symbolic and even surreal point. I do not like comparisons, but seeing that work reminded me Frida Kahlo's works in which her pain showed itself openly and not, since the beauty of the composition could only lead us to empathy. 

As I always say, I admire artists who go beyond, those that a flower is not simply a flower but rather says something else, who show us a series of colors that is not a simple composition for the visual but also for the spirit. 

I invite you to click on the images to enlarge them and know more about Ashley Gore, you can find her on facebook as well: https://www.facebook.com/AshleyGallery/ .

Art that Comes from the Heart

Artists have many motivations to paint and they are all valid. But there is one in particular that I, personally, have always considered remarkable and that is the one that comes from the heart.

It's interesting to see how people express their emotions and feelings in a different way. Some sublimate what they can not control in life through sport, excessive order, disorder, food, alcohol, drugs, ... among other things, while others, very few, do it through art. Art then becomes an extension of the spirit, of the soul. It is a way of dealing with pain, anguish,  uncertainty and all the emotions and feelings that the soul can shelter, which are almost endless. Sometimes situations or emotions overflow us and then our instinct leads us to behave either positively or negatively. 

Some people, I insist that few, manage to create beauty from the worst. While most would use all these destructive feelings in a negative way a few use them to create beauty. However, there are two ways of using pain and anguish in art: 1) create as a distraction and 2) get the pain involved in the work. The first case is one of the best ways to put our mind and soul somewhere else, outside us. But the second one, when pain revolves inside us and we're not even able to manage it but we instinctively throw all those feelings in a mass of creativeness, when we are able to pick up those sharping pieces of anguish transforming them in colors and shapes in a canvas, then my friends, then it is when you really are a great artist. It's about sensitivity and row soul, it's about your heart drawing and painting in an even unconscious way.

Of course art is a subjective issue, but paintings that tell us about inner stories are those that personally touch me since the author shows him/her heart naked. It's about courage and braveness as well, and that deserves all our respect and admiration.

I was inspired for this article on Emily Page's artworks, who knows much about feelings and emotions and perfectly managed to create beauty from sadness. Besides being a great artist she gives us a lesson as human beings. I don't want to talk a lot about her work since I prefer you to see it yourselves, I just have to say that she is a fabulous realistic artist who innovates in techniques, and artist with amazing hands and an amazing heart. Click on the images and know more about her, she deserves it. I also invite you to visit her blog  https://emilypageart.net/ and her site  https://emilypageart.com, where you'll not only  be able to know more about her artworks but also about "Fractured Memories: Because Demented People Need Love, Too", an Emily's book which I strongly recommend.

I leave you with this artist today who, by sure, will touch your heart.

The world around us

Artists often paint what surrounds them, sometimes realistically and literally while other times they show that world adding imaginary or symbolic elements. Personally, I prefer the second case. 

It always amazes me the way in which an artist can take to the canvas certain symbolic elements in a practically unconscious way, and not just the elements but the colors. Obviously, this shows how wonderful the plastic arts are since we extract visions and experiences from our deep interior.

Today, I want to show you Maria Woithofer's artworks, I think this could help all those who love painting to improve their ability and know a bit more about what they do and why. She started painting with oils but she currently works with acrylics and watercolor as well. The case is that Maria had two vivid experiences about what was around her as she was born in Poland but moved to Greece, what is a big change for anyone indeed, and we can see that in her paintings, she tells us about her world with her own vision and portrays the wonderful nature for us. 

There are two main things which mainly call my attention about her works and this are: elements and colors. Regarding elements, as you can see in her "Summer" work below, for example, she adds symbolic concepts that takes us to a complete world in a painting. It's her idea of summer, her feelings and experiences playing together to make us have a real sense of what she wants to show us. Besides that, there is some kind of joy in her work. If we visit her gallery we'll see that she's also a great realistic painter as she shows in most of her works, but it seems as if she resigned some perfection to highlight "meaning" in each of her brush strokes, what is in fact contemporary art. 

Regarding color, this calls my attention as well since she has a great use of it linking colors with moods, seasons and personal visions adding, this way, another symbolic element to her works.

What can we learn about all this? Well, in your paintings:

- Put your personal touch.

- Use non traditional elements in a composition.

- Take into account that colors mean emotions.

- Each brush stroke is important.

- Let yourself go ...

Click on the images below to know more about Maria Woithofer, you'll enjoy it.

Ancient Traditions and Contemporary Art

All artists have a cultural and environmental background, some reflect what they have seen and experienced at certain times of their life while others pass down from generation to generation the ancient customs of their ancestors through art. In either case, the essence of the artist is like a mark on the work, an imprint that tells us about the past, the sites which have been seen, the emotions that have been felt and his/her beliefs. Since ancient times man has felt the need to convey through art what happened, what was said, what they believed, even before writing appeared as a way of transmitting the word. Those are particular symbols that tell us stories from the most distant antiquity.

Unfortunately, fewer and fewer artists represent the beliefs and stories with which they grew up, what belongs to their culture and go with them beyond where they live. 

But there are still some artists that recreate the ancient art in a more contemporary way and give us the gift of their traditions' beauty. They born with an innate talent, as if that could be passed from generation to generation, and adapt it to the techniques of today. As an example of this, I want to introduce you Aditi Maaheshwar's artworks, she's an Indian artist who mainly paints with acrylic on wood and tells us part of her tradition in her wonderful works rich on colors and symbolism. I invite you to click on the images to enlarge them and visit her gallery to know more about this talented artist.

When Art Makes Magic Come True

There are some artists who just tell us about real world, others tell us about their feeling and there others that show us their inner magical world.

In a way, all artists show their inner world even if they paint a landscape since they show us the way they see it. But it's not that simple. As humans we have a personal world that goes beyond other people understanding, no matter how much we try to explain it we can't do that with words, it's really difficult at least. It gets harder if that inner world is full of magic, as Michele Avanti's one, whose creativity seems to come from the depths of her soul. She works with traditional mediums as acrylic but also with photographs and digital art.

Seeing her work we can't help but notice the details, each of them is important for the interpretation and each element is placed to tell us something. Her wise use of color added to the subject and the composition as a whole takes us to a magical world of fantasy, a world that the artist make us possible to almost touch it with our own hands.

Here below you can find some examples of the magic work of this magic artist. Click on the images to enlarge them and visit her gallery where you can find her wonderful art.

A personal view of nature

There are many ways to represent nature and our environment in general, each bears the weight of our feelings, concepts and memories. No matter the technique used, our personal imprint will be reflected in our work, or at least it should be if we consider ourselves artists.

One of the techniques that are most suited for this type of work, like for portraits is charcoal and chalk on paper. The artists that develop it they really have a very good hand since this technique doesn't allow excuses and they are usually are excellent drawing. This works show that are not required too many materials to perform a work of art, but simply an innate talent.

I want to introduce you Kacey Thorn's artworks today. She has a personal style drawing and painting animals that suggests she knows them very well. She also has a great control of the technique mentioned above which is, as she mentions in her biography, innate. Kacey also works with other techniques, such as acrylic, painting silhouettes that take us to unknown places and make us feel as if we were right there. Click on the images to see what I'm talking about and discover this young artist who has this wonderful sense of nature.

About oil. Do you have a personal style?

Let's talk about oil paintings today. Do you use oil? Do you have a personal style? Some artists create beautiful works, but they fail giving them a personal touch, which is essential if we want others recognize our work at just seeing it. No matter how good we are, if we don't get to define our work with a special style we'll never be truly appreciated and our name will never be truly recognized.

When an artist sees a landscape, for example, she/he highlights certain details in her/his mind, details that the artist usually takes into account in each work of the same characteristics. Moreover, when painting, the artist will surely choose a range of colors, a texture, a type of individual brushstrokes which make the difference.

We can talk a lot about personal styles, we've already done in fact, it is an inexhaustible subject. Today I want to show you Judy Jones artworks, she works with oil and acrylic and her art stands out because of its freshness, perspective, colours, lights and contrasts, which make her works perfectly recognizable. She usually works with realism but leaves the door of imagination open, making of each element a particular and undeniably personal creation.

You can find some examples of her work below, just click on the image and you'll find more details. I invite you to visit her profile as well where you'll find her gallery.

And seeing this artworks I remind you: it's not just about painting but creating as well. Enjoy the visit!

What about mixed media?

What mixed media is? It's just when we work with diffent mediums and not only the usual ones. This is a plus for contemporary artists, being able to work with different materials that help to express themselves better, as for example with texture.

Why should we use mixed media? It's just about you, it's about the joy that you feel working like that, there are no technical reasons even when some say the opposite I personally believe that it's your personal choice. You can create wonderful pieces of art with mix media and the best of it is that they will all be different. The good thing is that you have an almost endless type of mediums to use, this goes from using oil and acrylic to other materials like wood, paper, wires or everything you want to express yourself.

Today I want to show you Lori Kingston' works, she a mixed media artist and she makes wonderful artworks with diffent techiques. What I most like of Lori is her rich imagination and that it seems that she lets herself go to creativity in her works, as if there were no limits to experiment. 

She is working in a Silhouettes Serie now. She is a great phographer as well and you can know more about her and her art just clicking in the images below.

Abstract and colorful acrylic

Today I want to show you Jeremy Aiyadurai's artworks, he is is an acrylic creationist from Canada that paints on canvas and wood boards. His art is modern, mathematical, universal and poetic, like music and invokes energy projected from the brush. 

This artist shows us wonderful colors in abstract creative paintings that allows us to navigate in our own imagination, as abstract has to be. He conveys the energy of his mind through his work.

You can see more if his work clicking the images or here: http://www.universalthroughput.com/site/

Acrylic, oil and mixed media

Acrylic, oil and mixed media

This time I'm glad to talk about a multidisciplinary artist who can expressed himself by different means, Nacho Recio. He develops in his paintings the oil, acrylic or mixed techniques with complete ease and prevailing his inner vision of the external or internal facts of life and universe. In fact, this is what it is abstract about, a personal and unique vision of the world.

Here you have some of his paintings that teaches us how to let ourselves go and creat from the deepest of our soul.

Here you can find more information about him and his different artworks:

http://www.nachorecio.com/

More about acrylic

More about acrylic
We can show lot of examples about what you can get with acrylic. This time, I choosed this beautiful abstract picture of Louise Adams.

This artist from Canada outstands with bright colours, shapes and lines and she's always exploring and experimenting. As I told you in some posts, we have to enjoy work.

Ok, here is the artwork, and of course the price is not for the original art.

What about acylic?

What about acylic?

Acrylic is one of the most used techniques in recent decades. It takes time to get adapted to this kind of material, but you can get very good artworks.

It works layer upon layer and it dries extremely fast. It is one of the most used materials today.

If oil makes you lose patience because of its drying time and  if you don't fading away but with layers, then acrylic is the right medium for you.

Despite of what many believe, you can get very good transitions in light or dark, it's just practice. 

Others use it for spot painting and abstract, for which it's (at least to me) the best one.

It can also be used combined with other materials in a mixed technique.

Everything is up to you!

You Chose

Laura Greco

40 x 60 cm

Acrylic on Canvas

I'll post other artists artworks soon!

Which is the best medium for us?

Which is the best medium for us?

Sometimes we wonder which medium is best for us. Oil, acrylic, water color, pastel? There are lot of mediums and techniques now and to choose one depends on what we want to do. It may take us some time deciding and more to practice with them.

Beyond the drying time, I think it's a matter of pleasure. Do you enjoy working with acrylic and volumes? or Do you love the soft slide of oil? and besides that, do you prefer contrast or softness? We can create magnificent works with any technique whether if it's ancient or modern. The most important is to enjoy what we do and choose the one that help us to really show what we want to say with our paintings.

In next posts we'll talk about each particular technique, meanwhile, just paint!

Ancestral fear of hell

Acrylic on canvas

60  x 40