Abstract Realism – Yes, you can do it!

"Moonshines" acrylic on 18x24 canvas (abstract realism)

There’s tremendous freedom in doing an abstract painting. To do them well is the greatest challenge. What attracts the viewer? The colors, shapes, values, and most especially the mood. How does the painting make you feel?

Some abstract paintings are stark and limiting. Others may distort shapes or simplify images. According to Sue St. John, author of Journeys to Abstraction “The choices are vast and nothing is wrong. Abstract art can be incredibly liberating.”

Think of abstract art as fluid. Allow your brush to intuitively follow your imagination and mood. Take an idea, a theme, a feeling and express it in liquid motion. Keep in mind that an abstract artist is expressing “concepts” rather than exact depictions.

Abstract realism combines the best of both depending on what you choose to emphasize. Shapes and colors may be in the abstract with one part of the painting rendered true to life as the focal point. The reverse is also possible. Take a realistic background and an abstract center of interest. Inspiration is all around you.

I have an artist friend who gets inspired by fabrics. She can turn a small element of design into a full-blown abstract painting.

Look for shapes and patterns in your environment: the way light and shadow play out and create designs, structures, and lines. The world is full of texture, color and form. Examine how they work together and how they make you feel.

"My Trail of Tears" mixed-media on canvas

To advance a theme or emphasize a point, some artists incorporate symbols into their artwork. They are interesting. They provide additional information. For example, if the artist’s vision is “new birth” or change, a butterfly would help signify this metamorphous.

Many symbols are already familiar such as the circle (infinity, cycle of life, wholeness); the Egyptian Ankh which symbolizes the harmony between the physical and the spiritual worlds. Pentagrams (five-sided stars) represent the four elements of earth, wind, water and fire and how they are bound together with the fifth element of spirit.

The study of symbols alone would provide you with an astounding number of paintings and the basis for combining realism with abstraction. This should not only release you from preconceived notions about earth and life, but inspire you with countless stories and designs that are unique and personal. Above all, have fun!

"Moonlight Magic" 11x14 mixed media, layered acrylics

The following link should provide you with some great ideas. I’ve also included a quote by well-known artist Sherrie McGraw:

“A painting is more than the subject matter or the story it might depict. Good painting carries an undercurrent of beauty that expresses something beyond subject matter, beyond the tangible reality. It is this level of seeing that makes a painting a living thing, something that speaks even centuries after the artist is gone.”

http://emptyeasel.com/2009/03/31/3-ways-to-add-abstract-elements-to-a-realistic-painting/

Symbols, Signatures, and Signs

An artist signing his painting.

Advertisers use symbolism to encourage viewers to relate to their products and help them remember. The purpose of these symbols is to “endear” the item or store to potential buyers. It seems to be working.

Who can forget Apple’s logo: the apple with the bite taken out of it, or Target’s red bull's eye, or McDonald’s golden arches. We look for these symbols on the highway when we want something to eat. We file these symbols away in our minds and think of them when it’s time to shop or to make a purchase.

        

On my morning walk, I saw a parked car with a small chrome fish on the trunk. Immediately, I recognized the owners as Christian, at least in name and desire to share their beliefs with others.

According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes. The fish was formed from the Greek word: Ichthys. The lines for the word formed an actual fish.

According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger on the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. Current bumper-stickers and business-cards use of the fish hearkens back to this practice.

According to the Huffington Post, Religious symbols are a way to unite members of a common faith tradition, and to indicate to others the religious tradition they represent. Take their quiz and see how many symbols you can identify by clicking on the links above and below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/20/religious-symbols-signficance_n_3964458.html

Artists place their signature on every painting. Some of them are unique and unlike any other. Sometimes a symbol is created that becomes that artist’s trademark; remembered and identified. Here are a few famous artists’ signatures that have become classics.

 

And who can forget the signs of the Zodiac. Even though many frown on the practice of using horoscopes or signs to predict life events, they are all around us and difficult to avoid. The use of these signs is condemned in the Bible, yet I’ve known many Christians who playfully peak at their daily predictions as they would read the funny papers and then quickly forget them.

Many famous people, even Presidents and their wives have been known to rely on their horoscope predictions for determining a good date or time for decision making. Personality traits are identified for each sign and almost anyone can see themselves in their birth month as we all share many human traits in common.

I am a Leo; my sign is the Lion

As a marketing ploy, having an identifiable logo or sign can promote your business. A trademark that people recognize or a name that evokes feelings of satisfaction is a real plus!

Ideas that keep coming back Germinate and Grow

Do you ever get an idea in your head that you can’t let go of? I’ve given myself numerous reasons why I shouldn’t follow up:  It’s not something I would normally paint; I don’t want to promote a religion or have others think that I do; It’s a big undertaking, and I’m not sure it will work.

On and on, I reason with myself while the project sits in my mind un-executed. The idea came to me one day as I saw a small shadowy figure on my bathroom floor made from water marks and smears.

“Whirling Dervish,” I thought to myself. Then I had to look it up to be sure I had the right term. At first, I thought it was a Disney character. YouTube educated me as I found several videos of this unique and unusual religious lifestyle.

I also conjured up images of modern day Shriner's who adopted Mason and Muslim symbols in their costuming. Originating in Turkey, the “Whirling Dervish” is a sect of Islam. They are taught to love everything and participate in a physically active meditation of whirling known as Sema or Sama that brings them to a state of ecstasy.

My purpose as an artist is not to judge, but to observe. I was intrigued artistically not only by the challenge of trying to render this scene on canvas, but by the colors I envisioned in my mind. Combining these elements with the Shriner's, I could see various shades of yellow in the background, moving to subdued red orange; using Arabic lettering and other elements imprinted in black on the paint.

What intrigued me the most was the red fez of the Shriner's; the same style as the black or red hats of the Sema. I couldn’t get the red, yellow and white images whirling on a yellow canvas out of my head. The scimitars the Shriner's use also appeared in my first quick sketch (8.5x11 paper is much smaller than actual canvas). Ideas are born in the most unusual ways and if we try to bottle them up, they have a way of bubbling back to the surface.

Curiosity and imagination are compelling tools that often give birth to unique and unusual ideas. Some ideas grow and flourish like a fountain that constantly gurgles and lives. Other ideas never get past a second or third review. They fall by the wayside because there’s no substance for development.

Don’t put a lid on good ideas. If they come back again and again, they are probably “keepers.”