MY INSPIRATION
Painting has always been my passion and my way of relaxing, but as a freelance illustrator and a mother, I divided my time between my work and my passion for many years. Only about five years ago when I retired and my studio was built on top of our garage did I start to paint very seriously.
Gardens and floral images are very often my subjects. They inspire me: they fill me up with joy. From spring to fall, the view of my garden is a great source of inspiration. Even if I am very busy, I run outside to take off a withering flower, pick up the fallen leaves, or just sit for a minute and enjoy the colors and the various beautiful formations of leaves. I am constantly amazed by the infinite beauty nature can create. And the light of course! How the morning sun shines through the leaves, how the shadows turn blue, how the reflection of the sun brightens everything in the shade, adding an extra tone to the colors.
I love to take walks in the nearby forest preserves and botanical gardens.
For inspiration, I go to bookstores and look through artist magazines, and admire the talented artists’ works. I have a library including books about my favorite masters: Botticelli, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and the French postimpressionists. Also, I collected some very good art books with meaningful advice from well-known mentors. The challenge to become better and better drives me.
MY DESIGN STRATEGY
Like many artists today, I use my digital camera as a reference for my paintings. It is with me everywhere. Even my dog learned to accept it. I also travel often, so I have a huge collection of images to choose from to paint. I use a 40-inch LCD TV monitor to project my photos from my Mac when I paint. This allows me to enlarge details or see the whole picture as I wish. The colors are perfect on the screen. Technology is very helpful, so I take advantage of it.
But what really helps me to make the image alive is my love for that moment and the light I experienced in my heart when I was there taking the picture. That joyful memory becomes a part of me and that is what I like to express in my paintings. I choose my next subject based on which image most strongly brings that inspiring feeling to the fore again. I take time to visualize the finished image on the white canvas before I start. I think about the color range and composition carefully.
MY WORKING PROCESS
I use Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to enhance my photographs before I start a new painting. My easel is close to the TV screen, so I feel like I am there, in nature when I paint.
If necessary, I use a base color on the canvas, like a dark ochre and then I start to sketch the image. Sometimes I use these brushstrokes of the drawing as a soft blending tone later. Instead of creating a hard outline for the forms, I can blend that stroke into the next layer of colors if I work fast enough. Or I loose up the hard strokes by brushing turpentine around the edges to take away the harsh whiteness of the canvas. When the main shapes are in place, I start to fill in the main colors. I love to use thick paint on the brush with a mixture of very thin, different color paint volumes. This technique adds an interesting dimension to the strokes. Or I apply the thick paint strokes first and repeat the process with thinner corresponding color brush strokes in the same spots. Of course, it is difficult to always find the right color the first time, so I go back and work until I feel that the harmony of the tones, colors, and forms are accurate and create the right dimension. I clean my brushes very often in a solution. I realize that technology is important, but, in my experience, concentration and a clear concept of what I want to achieve are the most important elements of a successful painting.
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