Music or Not

Just thought I would talk about my art process a little more. I didn't make a blog entry yesterday so thought I would do so early today... before I start painting and maybe I will have a completed piece to show later - i underpainted another large 30x30" canvas yesterday (I always underpaint in acrylics and continue with oils). Yesterday I woke up very early with all these colours in my head, (in my minds eye) it was quite bizarre, the colours that i could mainly see were deep indigos and exquisite violet colours, so this inspired me to paint in these colours. The painting is very much in the early stages at the moment, however I am hoping today it will evolve today.

I wanted to talk about how music effects me when I am painting and to me it is crucial to work in a happy and comfortable environment as this enables me to express myself fully in my artwork.

Whether I play music largely depends on what kind of mood I am in as sometimes I need to paint in complete silence. However with music I have found it has without doubt helped some of my paintings evolve. I have painted some of my best abstracts to Madonna!! Another favourite for a very relaxed approach is Jack Johnson. Lately I have been using more calming chill out music, the likes of Buddha Bar and Café del Mar which take me off to creative places in my mind.

Later............

Orion
Well i have finished the piece that I was working on, I have called it Orion. I firstly underpainted with acrylic with phthalo blue, black, cerulean blue, violet, magenta and winsor & newton opera rose, a beautiful vivid pink which really complements the colours in the painting. I have tried to recreate the colours that I saw on waking yesterday morning in this piece, (vivid violets, blues and deep indigos). I use Liquin Original as a medium for washes and to give the painting a transluscent effect; when mixed with the oil colours it gives the oil fluidity and I am able to blend the colours to achieve the results I want. When I am working on such a large canvas I turn the canvas around to see it from a different perspective which gives me a different feel for the work and I am constantly moving the brush around the canvas, I am not always aware that I am doing this, however as a result of this it helps with the continuous flow of the painting.

The finished image I am really pleased with, the photograph as usual doesn't do the painting justice as there is a lot of depth to the painting and you really do feel like you are in another world. (note, must get a better camera!!) :o)) - oh nearly forgot to mention, I painted this one to Buddha Bar VII.