A-to-Z blog challenge: Step J - planning (part 1: size of painting)

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today. If you are a return visitor, welcome back. I am delighted to see you again!

We now get to the planning stage of doing a painting for a competition like this one. The painting I did for the 2023 competition, was smaller than the original, about 60%. Sticking to the original size would have disqualified my entry because of size limitations set by the rules.

This year the painting I chose is much smaller. The old masters did not have standard sizes for the canvases which makes it necessary for me to adjust the size of the painting I am doing. I decided to scale up, to fit a panel that I already have. The original was also done with a different aspect ratio, which added to the challenge of scale.

Sometimes art requires doing a little math. I cut and mounted the panel in 2023 from scratch, but this year I decided to go with a store bought panel from my stash.

The new size? 66% larger than the original. Yeah, that engineering degree is useful at the weirdest of times. LOL!

More on that next time.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step I - designing the composition (part 2: incorporating a theme)

Designing a composition based on an existing painting, to incorporate another theme, or style, requires some planning. And artists plan visually – digging out sketchbooks is the next step.

    Thumbnails, ie small drawings or paintings, are typically used to flesh out ideas. I do my version of that. I have a small sketchbook, A5 landscape size, that I use for either experimenting with new ideas or mediums or exploring ideas for a composition. I prefer the smaller size sketchbook to limit myself from getting bogged down in the details. I love to draw, and doing thumbnails is for ideas, not final art, so I need to keep it small.

    Again, sharing is not possible, but here is an example of what I did, and also the final artwork that resulted.

Gouache painting

Sketchbook planning

   

   

Until tomorrow!

📚💜Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step H - designing the composition (part 1: what’s in a theme)

 

As mentioned in previous posts, the competition has a prescribed theme: take one of the paintings of the old masters and interpret it with an African theme.

I thought, hey, this is easy right? And was I in for a surprise. Unlike the Baroque or Renaissance era, or the Impressionism and Surrealism styles, there is no such thing as African themed art. Historical African art was created for practical applications, e.g. decorating a home, or for religious/spiritual items, e.g. masks. Art was not created for the sake of art. More modern art created by African artists is either considered social, or socio-political commentary. Or is just considered modern or Western art [1,2]. 

So how will it be possible to interpret a piece from an old master, in a theme that does not have a definition? Well, I would say you make your own definition. At least that is how I plan to do it. Will it work? I have no idea, but one thing I do know: it is going to be fun trying!

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜Linzé

References:

1. The Art of Africa, Christa Clarke, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006

2. https://www.britannica.com/art/African-art/Nigeria

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step G - choosing the masterpiece (part 3: ask a friend)

 

After hours of staring at my first choice of paintings on my screen, I narrowed it down to eight and then three. Then I had to pick one. Sure, I can paint more than one and then decide later, but my time is severely limited: a heavy workload, the final edits to do on my next novel, I am working on another two books, and a few more art projects including commissions. So, I had to commit and the sooner the better.

But I was stuck. I loved the final 3 I chose. So I “phoned” a friend. I belong to an art group of friends, and we have a group on a messaging app where we chat most days. I posted the 3 paintings to the group and asked for their input. I didn’t reveal the theme, nor the medium that I planned to use. (Note: the theme wasn’t made public yet at the time of writing this post. The administrators of the competition sent the theme via the email to invite me to take part again this year.)

They were kind enough to share their thoughts, and it helped me to decide on my final choice. Did I tell them which one I chose? No. Am I going to? No. This is a competition, and while I trust my friends not to share my project. By not revealing my choice, I effectively limit any influence their opinions might have on my artistic decisions, and this is no reflection on them.

Have I started painting yet? No, but stick around and I will tell you why the theme is not as easy as I thought it would be.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step F - choosing the masterpiece (part 2: the shortlist)

When you see the paintings that made the final round of judging, and the winners of 2023, you will notice that they are all portraits, or figure paintings. So I thought that maybe I should do that. Problem is that I don't like painting people. This will also make it more difficult to find a painting of the old masters to use, because they don't speak to me.

But...then I found a few. Which surprised me, I have to say. So which one to choose? Which artist, style or period? Like many things with options, it seemed a good idea to make a list.

Strelitzia - coloured pencil
in my sketchbook

    Making a list of paintings, didn't seem right since I needed a visual list, not a written one. I went online and found images of the list of paintings that appealed to me, all styles, all themes, all subjects. I parked them next to each other on my second screen (which is larger than my laptop's) and stared at them.

     Did it help? Stick around to find out how I ended up choosing the painting.

    Until Monday!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step E - choosing the masterpiece (part 1: the artist)

 This competition has a theme, like most competitions do. And this year the theme is to take a painting from one of the masters and do it with an African theme. Or Baroque to braaivleis as the website says.

For my non-South African readers, braaivleis is Afrikaans for a BBQ, but it is the context that is relevant here, not the act of cooking, ie the theme is something (South) African. Weird, I know, but hey this is art, right?

This theme requires some out-of-the-box thinking, because the old masters painted their situations and their scenery ... think people, landscapes, and time period specific subjects. And there were many artists painting, or sculpting, in many styles. So where does one start?

For me it was “simple” - and I use those quote marks on purpose - because we have a lot of art books in the house. I just pulled out everything we have, and then spent some time with each artist and their work. Since I don't have formal art training, I was not familiar with some of the artists. But deciding on which piece, has to start with the artist. And it was difficult, because many of the art I saw appealed to me on both a visual and emotional level.

Let's say it was easier to decide which ones not to use, than finding which one to use. More about that next time.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step D - the fun rules

Since the competition is advertised on social media, ie Instagram, it goes without saying that some social media interaction is allowed. Blog posts like the ones I am sharing this month, where I share my process, but not the details, are allowed.

And so is sharing the details of the competition from the gallery to get the word out for more artists to take part. So yeah, please feel free to share my posts, but also check out the website and Instagram account of the gallery, for more information. Share with a friend, because they may not yet know about the competition.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜Linzé