Are you ready for some blurry photo action? I had one of my sudden and unexpected ‘artbursts’ {see what I did there?} last night, the kind where I just unexpectedly sit down and paint, and time simultaneously stops and speeds up, so when you surface you realise it’s waaaaaay past your bedtime.
I visited a couple of Open Houses this weekend {it’s May which means the Brighton Festival and Open House season, where people open their homes to the public and display the work of all kinds of local artists}, and was particularly inspired by some paintings of trees, so I sat down and did a tree painting on paper.
I started with some collage and a sketch.
Then some Titan Buff.
Then colours.
Initially I used charcoal for the tree outline, but it rubbed off {obvs}, so I painted over it with sumi ink and a very tiny brush. There will definitely be more of this ~ muy satisfying.
I used stamps and doileys to make the patterns, and painted layers which I then rubbed back so it looks all textured and old. Lovely.
I found the Kahlil Gibran quote online; I wanted to use something by Hafiz {I seem to love every single thing he ever said} but this was the one that popped out at me.
It was a real pleasure to make this one, and I’m very happy with the result.
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PS. Thank you so much to everyone who chipped in with title ideas for the untitled painting; it really helped kick start me with possibilities. I decided on ‘Holding Space’ in the end, partly because it just occurred to me, and also because of the spaces in it, like the white area and the turquoise part under the ‘arm’.
Hi Tara – Love how this one has turned out – and fabulous quote.
This is so beautiful Tara! Thanks so much for sharing your process. You found a wonderful and very fitting quote. I love the three leaves hanging down. Keep up the fabulous creations! xx
I love the painting by negative space. Personally, I always throw color over the whole canvas/paper and then work out the details later. I’ll have to try leaving some “blank” until I actually start painting that part… It’s always nice to switch up the routine a bit and see what happens!
By the way, I think “Holding Space” is a perfect title for the previously untitled piece. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! <3 Kate
Hi Kate, thanks so much for stopping by, and nice to meet you. 🙂
Oh Tara, i just LOVE this one! And that quote – couldn’t be more perfect. You know, as i was scrolling down to see your next step, and the next one, and the added color, and the added texture – with every photo, i swear my mouth was gaping more and more. By the end of your post, i could’ve swallowed an elephant. SOOOOOOO fucking gorgeous. Love your work. I really love the colors you played with in this. Lovely, my friend. xoxo
Wonderful creation ~ love the design, colors and composition ~ Beautiful! ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^
Thank you Carol! What lovely things to say. 🙂