Stages of Creation: Part 4

Step 4: The Creation Stage

I have done the research, come up with the image, mediated, and completed the drawing, and planning. Now I am ready to really bring the painting to life. This process is the least complicated, but often the most demanding.

Before I start painting, I get the colors together that I selected from the previous stage. Then I use the tracing paper and transfer a very light tracing of the drawing on the painting surface. In this case, it is an Ampersand Clayboard Smooth board.

Then I might play some music to help connect me to the energy of the painting and to set a creative atmosphere. In the case of the Goose painting, I listened to a lot of medieval music, with a tendency toward heavy drums. The band Corvus Corax became a favorite while working on this piece. The music helps to connect me to the painting, which is beneficial when I have to stop and start painting many times.

When I actually start the painting, a curious thing tends to happen, I find myself entering a meditative state, similar to when I am creating the drawing. I have a tendency to lose track of time. In fact, I often can paint for five or six hours straight, thinking when I have stopped to take a break, that I have only been working for an hour or two. When I am working on the beginning stages of the painting I need to be sure that have a good chunk of time in which to work. If I have a place to be or have a job to go to, it is not a good idea to start painting, or I will end up missing the appointment or being late for work. If I wait until the end of the day, after I get home from work or my appointments, I might paint until the wee hours of the night and end up losing precious sleep! At later stages when I am doing detail work, I can start and stop more easily. So, sometimes I can paint for an hour before work or after I come home, without fear of disappearing from the world for too long!

Where do I go when I paint? If any of you meditate, you might relate to this experience more easily. I practiced very serious sitting meditation for over four years before I began shifting my focus more heavily on painting. To me, there is little difference between sitting meditation and painting. The only difference perhaps is in the posture. In both instances my mind is open, my thoughts are focused, but not fixed on any one thing. I am connected to the present moment. Suddenly, I am aware of no past, present or future, perhaps, I am aware of them existing all at once. I believe this helps me to create a painting that is connected to universal energy. It helps to keep my artwork authentic, which I hope, in turn, helps my work to reach people on a deeper level.

The tools I use here are:
(clockwise from the bottom left)
--The drawing from which I refer occasionally as I paint, mainly for the finer details that come later in the painting.
--The color sketch and color palette
--My laptop, which I use to view reference photos (I try not to print too many of my photos to help save trees and reduce waste)
--My tracing of the drawing (beneath that is a composite photo I created in Photoshop to use as a compositional reference)
--My cup of tea (now it is white or green tea, since I need a steady hand at this stage)
--My inks for painting
--Blending medium (for extending the drying time of the inks)
--Masking Fluid (This is a special liquid use to mark off areas of the painting that I don't want the ink to cover. Perhaps I want to reserve white in places. I can brush the masking fluid on and let it dry. Then I can paint all over it. When I am done, I simply rub the masking fluid off and the the area it covered is untouched by the ink. I can paint that area or leave it white.)
--Spray mister (to keep my palette wet so the inks don't dry out)
--Jar of water with my brushes in it
--Small jars of mixed colors
--Watersoluble Ink Pencils (These come in handy for very tiny details, as this painting is only 5 x 7")
--My mixing palette
--Paper towels (These are made from 100% recycled materials. I try to reuse them many times. Since once the ink dries it is permanent, I can re-wet the paper towel and don't have to worry about the ink running.)

The length of the Creation Stage various depending the painting. Some paintings can take weeks or months to complete, others only a few days. Usually, the smaller pieces take less time. But, if I am doing a lot of glazing work, the time to finish a piece can be significantly longer due to the drying time required between layers.

I am adding the finishing touches to the Goose painting now, and I will be posting the final piece in a few days. Be sure to check back to see the result. At that time, I will also share the background information about the Goose and why I chose it as a subject.

DoAn

Stages of Creation: Part 3

Step 3: Cultivation Stage

Now that I have the idea or concept and a composition is drafted, I can explore color! Color is a very important factor to my paintings. It is probably the main thread that connects all my varied styles of art. I am drawn to saturated colors. I like rich, vibrant colors that are still natural and not too garish. This is probably why spring and autumn are my favorite seasons, as they tend to be the two most colorful seasons.

The purpose of this stage is to determine the color palette that best suits the piece. The colors I choose are not only part of a visual aesthetic, but should also match the theme and concept of the particular piece. Color not only reflects the world we see, but it can also evoke mood, create atmosphere, and act as symbols. I try to incorporate all these in varying degrees in each of my paintings.

In this stage, I will create a color sketch of the painting. First, I transfer the drawing onto paper, then I will start to paint the image using the colors I think will work best for the piece. I am not as concerned with detail or exactness of the image. I am focusing mainly on color relationships. While I am painting, I keep track of the colors I use and think are right for the piece by making a small color palette on a separate sheet of paper.

One of the side benefits of doing a color sketch is that I get a second chance to see if the composition works. In the case of the Goose painting here, I realized once I started adding the trees in the background, that the painting was feeling too cramped. So, in the final painting, I will get rid of the trees and leave an open sky with a low horizon. Now the goose can breathe!

Often, while I work on the color sketch, I make notes to myself about the piece. For example, on the Goose painting, I didn't like how dark the grass was behind the black-berry bush, so I made a note to lighten the green in the final painting. I might make suggestions about altering the composition, adjusting a color, or adding or subtracting details.

The tools I use here are:
On the left side:
Colored pencils for coloring small details or fine lines
Permanent marker for writing comments on the color test.
Paper for testing out colors.

In the Center:
Bottles of Ink.
Bottle of blending medium for mixing with the ink to keep it from drying too fast. (Once ink is dry it is permanent and nearly impossible to make corrections.)
Color Palette of selected colors for the final painting.
Color Sketch.

On the Right Side:
My cup of tea. (I am back to black tea here, as this part of the process doesn't require any careful brush strokes.)
More bottles of ink.
Jar of water.
Small containers for storing newly created colors. (Sometimes I have to combine two or more ink colors together to create my own color mixtures. It is much easier to make large quantities at one time to make sure the color is consistent in one painting.)
Dropper for mixing colors.
Brushes.
Ceramic palette for mixing colors.
Paper towel for absorbing excess water and pigment from brushes and for clean-up.

Once I get the colors right and have a good color palette created. It is on to the next step: the Creation Stage

DoAn