Hypnosis and art

I have always been intrigued on the notion of "Hypnosis and art" is that actually possible? I would say yes. Think about it, when you look at a painting, aren't you starting to imagine things? Isn't your mind drifting a way for a bit? I think so. Then if you would combine this with the visuals, maybe include some text art (Imagine if it would also play sounds/voices), I think this could be a powerful cocktail to actually have the artpiece do a hypnotic induction and program the viewers' subconscious mind. I particularly like my dot patterns of my paintings as they add that visual effect of an optical illusion. fter looking at my works for 30 seconds and you close your eyes, you still the work, only inversed.

Why am I painting?

A question I sometimes ask myself, "Why am I painting?", there are many other things that need to be done, time is limited. A question like that may sound strange from an artist, but think about it, if you are a rather unknown artist, in a small community where art is nowhere to be seen, and no-one is buying, really, "Why do I paint?" is not such a weird question after all. In the back of my mind when I start a new canvas, I think "yeah, nice idea, but where am I going to store this one?" Also the financial factor comes in to play, "why am I spending 57Euro - for this canvas only - that is just going to be sitting there?" Gosh, I really must like to paint, have a need to paint. I just wish that I could share my works.

Painting is a lot like meditation

I was thinking yesterday, while I was finishing off a painting, that the act of painting is a lot like meditation. You're there busy for hours in solitude, quietness, concentrated on one thing, the painting. Then I was realizing that probably the best content for my blog is being thought off right there, while painting/meditating. But I am not capturing it. I should almost have my laptop next to me and when a next idea comes to mind, type in straight away, or maybe use a voice recorder, I don't know.

Color study woman painting, pink and red

 

Here the painting is drying outside, the fumes were killing me.

Pink and Red color study

 

Over the weekend I’ve been busy painting as I mentioned earlier. I love these little canvasses. This one is 50cm x 50cm. 100% linen canvas.

The never ending saga: paint on canvas or on plywood

I have canvas on a roll, I have all the tools like a mitersaw and even a compressor with brad nailer. But this time, I needed to make some paintings fast for an upcoming presentation, so I had to buy. I bought a Lefranc Bourgeois canvas 100% Linen size 60cm x 120cm, price 58Euro, that's like $70. I think that's a hefty price to pay for canvas. Okay, it's the best quality out there but still. For an artist budget, not knowing if you will ever sell this painting, it's a lot to spend. Made me think again of using plywood to paint; there are so many advantages, it's cheap, strong, doesn't warp or stretch or sag like canvas, and when the surface is prepped well, you have a super finish in your works. It's certainly something I will look into. Of course the prep work is going to be time consuming, priming & sanding. I will try it out anyways, I'm sure the result is going to be awesome.

Reminiscing Hazel Dooney's issues with paint fumes

The entire weekend when I was painting I had to think of Hazel Dooney, a successful painter from Australia (twitter: @dooneystudio) that writes a lot about the nauseating experiences she has daily from working with the paint. Normally I don't have issues with it, but I was painting in an small enclosed space, very concentrated and paying attention to detail (with nose almost on the canvas). My eyes were actually tingling, burning and itching, stronger than when you peel an onion. Geeez. I had to take a headache pill. Today I worked outside in the yard, and left the paintings to dry overnight outside as well. (I wanted to prevent that, cause there are a lot of mosquitos and there's a great chance they will stick on it, but I don't have a choice. I working on a cool set of paintings.