A Different Perspective

Fair warning, the following post has nothing to do about make up but everything to do with my artistic journey.  I thought it was really important to gain a different perspective for my brushes.  I wanted to learn how to be more abstract, which really meant for me learning to let go and trusting my creative instincts a little more.  I could have easily taken more courses or seminars with other professionals make up artists, but I wanted to step out of my box and gain a new perspective on something similar to what I do, basically a different approach to my craft. This lead me to oil painting.

After much consideration and the persuasiveness of my best friend Anita, I decided to post what I've painted so far.  My hesitations steam from the fact that I am not the best drawer in the world; unless I am drawing stick figures, I'm a champ! lol... Seriously, at work I refuse to draw when we play our version of Pictionary, I rather guest and save myself from the embarrassment.  Anywho, the paintings I am posting are basically exercises I've done in class, so please be gentle hehe.

On a side note, it's incredible how similar the approaches are and how a lot of the skills I am learning through these classes are transferable to make up application too. Everything from the tools I use to colour control or even blending are continuously used to paint up a master piece, just on different canvases.

Colour Theory

So this painting came to life after our first exercise which was charting primary, secondary and tertiary colours; to have a better understanding of how they work together. So right now it may appear that I have used a million different colours, but the truth is I only used 4: Lemon Yellow, Cobalt Blue, Alizarian Crimson and Titanium White.  It's amazing how much can be created with so little paint!

Colour System

These three paintings were all about mixing complimentary colours (opposites on the colour wheel) at different values.  For instance, when you add green to red it can actually make a shade of red, so a darker red. When you add white to that colour, it then becomes a tint and depending on how much white you add, you will see a different value of your mixture. Eventually the two colours combine and will make a grey, as you can see in the paintings above. By the way, each painting are only using the extremes on the canvases with white.

Abstract Impressionist

My class is teaching the Impressionist style of painting which takes relatively small, yet visible brush strokes, of different colours to compose a painting.  The trick is to group similar values to help make your object or form.  I tried so many different settings to get a better picture of the painting, but way too much light in all scenarios and won't really get the full effect of the exercise.  Essentially everything should look more blended into each other instead of so spotted... but I guess you'll have to take my word for it ;) .

Colour Control: Blue vs Orange

 

Colour Theory: Yellow vs Purple

So last but not least, it's all about control! This was my last class assignment.  Again, only using the 4 previously mentioned colours, one as a primary, the other two mixed to make it's complementary and white to achieve different values.  Basically, I had to create a range of colours showcasing the extremes as well as when they are combined, like a previous exercise but with a slower progression; allowing the different colours to burst on the canvas.

For me, thus far, it's been an incredible experience. The teaching methods are so different from what I am accustom to.  Considering that I've traditionally only taken business courses, which are relatively structured and specific in terms of expectations, this class is completely on the other side (which says a lot because I studied marketing in university and we are considered to be the free-spirits of business).  There are no rules, just guidelines; even with the tools we use. Normally I was told that you had to buy 'this' book or 'that' calculator, but in this course I always hear experiment and figure out what works best for me.  This class has made me realize how school can sometimes stifle your creativity. It's hard to be 'out of the box' when you are continuously shoved into one. Luckily for me I am slightly claustrophobic, therefore avoid boxes at all costs! lol...

There are a few more classes left for this session, which means potentially a few more art pieces to share.