Painting from Collage

(Top row: collage, bottom row: acrylic on canvas)

Again I struggle with mixing colour (indeed, the whole point of this exercise!) It seems that I have the basic hue more-or-less correct, but getting just the right tone/shade eludes me... most things are just a little too light or a little too dark...

In the few paintings I have done, I tend to layer colours until I am satisfied. This tends to give the effect that the painting is lit from behind, or maybe that light is shining through. Ultimately, layering colours gives a multi-dimensional effect, which is how I see colour anyway (colour is never just ONE, imho) When I use one layer of colours as in the paintings above, to me, they seem a bit... well... flat. A bit lifeless.

Kind of funny, that result, because the collage seems to have a bit more "life" than the paintings, when I might expect the opposite! After all, a collage is just snipped up bits of paper borrowed from an old pile of greeting cards...

All in all I prefer the collages to the paintings, though I'm not sure exactly why; they just seem "right" where the paintings seem a bit... what's the word... forced? Ugly? And another problem with the whole set is that the collages are A3, and the paintings are U.S. 12" x 16" pre-fab canvas sheets... something I hadn't considered until I was drawing the composition on the canvas (there's a slight distortion in the paintings that I didn't really compensate for, when I should've "trimmed" the composition to fit the canvas...)

So, yeah, I probably won't include these in my portfolio! Because one might think these are the first paintings I've ever done in my life. LOL.

(p.s., though I do enjoy collage, I really don't enjoy landscapes or other paintings with no people in them, maybe that's why this project wasn't THAT much fun in the end.)

bits of paper

Today's projects involved the themes of Tranquility and Anxiety.

As I worked on these two collages, to illustrate further the themes, I tried to also incorporate the idea of "opposition", i.e., taking that "tranquility" is the opposite of "anxiety". At the same time, I tried to make it clear that the two pieces, in fact, work together, by using similar compositional elements. For example, the shapes of the grave stones on the left closely resemble the shapes of the buildings on the left. Similarly, the dark/black "trees" in the cemetary piece are similar to the dark/black buildings in the city piece. These elements clarify the two pieces as a distinct pair.

Taking one piece at a time:

1. "cemetary, early morning" - I chose soft/pale, cool colours (purples, greens, blues, beige) to complement the theme of tranquility. These colours typically have a calming effect. Also, I can think of no place more peaceful than a beautiful old cemetary at dawn, with the early sun giving the sky a periwinkle glow, and not even the tree branches stir. Perhaps this scene is one of rearly springtime, where there is new grass or a bit of snow left on the ground.
   
2. "city, late evening" - For this piece, dark and harsh colours were chosen, as well as obvious contrasting hues of blues and oranges. Contrasting colours seem to create a certain energy, and these garish colours give a negative nuance to the piece. The orangey-gray-black clouds lend to the negative atmosphere and seems to reflect a kind of orange light on some of the buildings, which definitely suggests some kind of foreboding. Also, the lines of light (as car headlamps and tail lights) show the cars are moving, perhaps too quickly.

I tried to use combinations of elements (colours, shapes, and lines) to contrast and compare the themse of anxiety and tranquility: harsh/soft, dark/light, strong/pale, angular/curved, evening/morning, future/past, etc. On the whole, I feel these compositions were successful.

One other note on these pieces: I used a pile of greeting cards, post cards, and wedding invitations to make these works (every one of them was a card I have received). I have not only recycled paper (yay! save the earth!), I have also hidden forever the sentiments and memories contained inside the cards, but these are not lost - they have only changed form, and I have made a new memory.

The next project will be to paint these compositions... stay tuned!

-- kelise72