I really am not sure what the proper terminology is.
It was an array of these buildings with dark clay tile roofs and white washed exterior walls, with an amplified separation of the foreground from the background, like those distorted images taken with a wide angle lens. I wish I could remember the photographer's name so I could give due credit.
I was so enamored with this style of building that I researched the subject online. I was really surprised that the Five Elements had a say in these styles. I lifted the following information off the Internet.
The Five Elements are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. The roof I saw in the photograph had a ridge line resembling a pried open hair pin. I guess that would put it in the Wood Element.
Armed with that trivia, I wanted to paint what I could remember. It really was just doodling, as I would call it. A lighthearted way to break my period of laziness and cycle of low energy.
What I ended up with was some really weighty roof ridges. My obsession with them was obviously betrayed. This etude also seemed rather terse, and was screaming out for more detail.
The second attempt certainly was filled with more information. I thought the brushstrokes were playful. The work had composition, contrast and tonal merit.
Encouraged by the modest success, I tried a third time.
Well I seemed to have held on too tight this time. Perhaps my obsessive compulsive disorder did a cameo. Yes I did pile on a bunch more information in this etude. I even planted some bamboo to garnish the heavy roof ridge. I thought the spacing was good and the work was sort of impressionistic, without being vague; just the way I remembered the photo.
However, it seemed too meticulous. The brushstroke seemed restrained, tentative, contrived and lack that je ne sais quoi element of artistic energy.
My consolation? I was just doodling. I looked up the definition of doodling, which was to scribble absentmindedly.
That's where I failed. My mind wasn't absent enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment