Finished Small Paintings : Star Crossed and Entwined
Added 2022-08-10 09:27:33 +0000 UTCHi peeps,
So I managed to finish 2 of the small paintings before the deadline I needed to hit in order to submit to the Gallery Nucleus show I was aiming for.
I did also work on the 3rd piece but didn't quite get to a point I was happy with, so I ended up only submitting the 2 hand paintings to the show.
I don't know when I will hear back but I will obviously update you with the results!
So here are Star Crossed, and Entwined!
Both pieces are painted in acrylic, but with a gouache background, and are 5x7 inches, as those were the dimension requirements for the show.
I used my own hands as references for both, and had a genuinely good time painting them.
I find myself being more and more comfortable with small formats, and while I used to struggle with incorporating as much detail as I wanted into pieces smaller than A4, I am starting to hit my stride and am quite happy with how these 2 turned out!
I kept the same background for both, as I was going for a fairly unified look over what was supposed to be a small series of 4 (but is now only 2).
I did start to paint the 3rd piece but it was one of the concepts I hadn't quite fleshed out all the way in my head, and that translated into the piece and resulted in me not knowing where I wanted to go with it and never being all that satisfied.
The core idea was to have the ribbon from the mask enveloping the mouth of the character, but I wanted more detail than that, especially in the background and the mask. I tried a few different things but nothing hit the mark, so I have set this piece aside.
I don't think I will pick this specific one up again, but I do want to give the concept itself another shot, I just need to figure out the last details first.
I will be honest, going into this small project, I didn't really expect to enjoy it all that much, as, as I mentioned, I find painting small challenging. So far I have always felt a little frustrated by how restrictive small sizes are, and how they don't allow me to express a full narrative and complex concept as well as bigger formats do.
But I have been attempting small paintings for a while now, and I think I am starting to get to grips with them in a more satisfying way.
I am keen to get a handle on them so that I can derive as much enjoyment from them as I do from bigger pieces, as they are very efficient time wise, as well as very versatile and great little exercises.
I would also like to explore building a small narrative from a series of them some day. I like how the 2 hand paintings above feel related and like they belong to the same story somewhat, and working in that format intentionally could be interesting.
But that is it from me for now!
I would love to know what you think, how you are, and what you are working on, if you fancy sharing, and in the meantime, thank you for reading, and take good care!
Love, M
Comments
I want to read a sci-fi adventure story! Let me know if you need creative project encouragement. Everyone deserves a cheerleader.
Seyca Manza
2022-08-18 23:57:08 +0000 UTCThank you Christin, that is really encouraging actually, and I would definitely like to try that one again at some point. I just need to flesh out the idea more first. Congratulations on the new job, absolutely delighted to hear you are enjoying it! What is a memory care facility? Congrats on the new friend too, it is always a difficult thing to build as we get older, I know I struggle with it, so I hope you have a beautiful relationship with them. :) And I am so sorry about your coming out to your mum not going great...Do you think she will come around? I hope it doesn't put you in too much of a toxic harmful situation and that you have people around who understand and support you in the ways you need. Small spaces are hard! I can relate! Good luck on your buttons though, what is the fan art of? I hope your writing is going well too, you are doing so much, it's fantastic !
2022-08-18 17:50:17 +0000 UTCThank you Jo :) And I am so sorry to hear you are not doing well! I am glad you are finding the time and energy to do art though, I hope it can help you through the difficult times, and that things will start looking up very soon. I love love love collage, I really admire people who create narrative images with it, it's such a fantastic medium. I hope it is treating you well <3
2022-08-18 17:46:35 +0000 UTCI appreciate that Leigh, thank you! I used to struggled with adding detail to small pieces, but something clicked with these two, and I am so glad you like them :)
2022-08-18 17:44:38 +0000 UTCI have a go-to red that I pre-mix from Liquitex Acrylic colours, so I use that a lot, but if I don't feel it fits the colour-scheme of the piece, I'll usually try to pick a dark version of a colour already present in the piece :)
2022-08-18 17:43:51 +0000 UTCThese are beautiful. I even like the one you didn't finish. I really hope you do try the concept again, it hits very close to home for me. I'm doing all right, I started a new job. It's exhausting and I love it! It's at a memory care facility. I also made a new friend in my community! We've been hanging out and talking lots! I also came out to my mom as non-binary, oof, that could've gone better. Lately I've been drawing fanart that I'm going to turn into buttons! I've realized it's really hard for me to also work in such a small, restrictive space. Also I've been working on writing my story some more. It's a sci fi adventure story.
Christin Unfred
2022-08-10 17:00:06 +0000 UTCGosh, I love the first one. To your questions: I'm not doing very well but after a long art break, I'm finally starting to create things again and that feels quite good. I'm currently playing with collages and also want to try to create more narrative pieces and not just standalone things without story.
2022-08-10 10:46:44 +0000 UTCI love them both. The ribbons look amazing and I love how you've done the bones. So much fine detail in the flower and the roots too. So beautiful. Both really awesome concepts. Once again more stunning artwork from youπ€
2022-08-10 10:11:02 +0000 UTCI am curious what you consider when choosing what color to use for line work?
Seyca Manza
2022-08-10 09:32:35 +0000 UTC
