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"Paint Ten!" Famous words from a teacher; an exercise, for me, in color, composition, & creativity.
No.1, Learning to paint 'white things' I took a white cup, plain paper towel roll, white napkin, and clear glass bud vase bound by copper wire. When I handed it in, he said, "Good. Now paint 10--take an hour, not more, on each of the ten. This is the story of "Paint Ten."
No.2, Now for the dilemma--how to do the same thing over and over again, yet do it differently? First thought: wash the paint on-- which was not very successful (as you can see.) Next I tried using a 'dry' brush technique--that was so awful I threw it away.
No. 3, is again the same size, 12 x 16 . The original was on canvas board, the rest of the 10 are oil paint on gessoed paper. The teacher liked this composition, pleased when I said I'd turned the cup on its side to help bring the viewer's eye into the painting.
No. 4, a REALLY boring experiment. A total failure to my eye.
No. 5 is the result of boredom (from 1-4). Frustrated I picked up the next piece of paper and tore off the bottom end, creating a square. Now I'm having fun again. Part of the Paint 10 lesson for me was that I couldn't keep doing the same thing over and over again--thus I would have to push myself past a certain point to find a deeper creativity.
No. 6, is painted on what I tore off of #5. I don't throw anything away and I was on a roll! This painting is 4 x 11. Suddenly I was filled with ideas about how to paint these few objects 10 times and I stumbled on a tall, narrow format.
No. 7 builds on the tall, narrow composition idea, only even taller. This painting is 8 x 15 and is probably my favorite. My teacher also liked it. If I were to do it again, I think I'd turn to bud vase to create a diamond shape in the painting as I think that might add some 'tension' or more energy to the composition.
No. 8 is interesting, but less so for me. I was obviously enjoying looking down on the top of my 3 main objects, but leaving behind the more exaggerated narrow format for a 'mere' more or less standard rectangle was, well, just a tad boring in that moment.
This No. 9 painting was my teachers favorite. He liked the way the bottles create the shadow shape at the bottom (after zooming into the 'frame.') Just weird I'm thinking. Notice the cup is gone and the paper towel roll is now just a non-shape behind the glass vase. I chose a warmer white to help give the painting some depth.
Then for No. 10 I for some reason took a look at the bottom of the vase! Wow, there were those 4 little squares within the larger square, reminding me of the Dutch painter, Modrian, who loved landscapes and trees as do I. After years of studying trees Modrian began painting primarily squares within squares--thinking about how patterns in nature have a kind of 'dynamic equilibrium' (as he described it) similar to that within squares. This is the type of thinking that brings forth new forms of artistic endeavors.
Oh, I am just having so much fun! Thanks for visiting Paint 10
Oh, I am just having so much fun! Thanks for visiting Paint 10
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