My Art Journal, What most people see- What an artist sees

From My Art Journal

One of the things I have notice is that when my wife and I go out almost daily to either the beach or into the foothills for a hike we generally are looking at the same thing. We do draw attention to what each other is seeing. But what is interesting to me is that we can be looking at the same general scene, in the same environment and she will be focused on one aspect of the scene, and I will be seeing something entirely different.

This extends to what each of us may paint from that environment and how we interpret the scene. Her color choices are different. She tends to focus on the wildlife while I tend to paint the vistas. Her work is more representational than mine. I may abstract the scene as I have done with the video you see here.

Abstract Art Seascape art Video

When painting abstract art it is more than just painting a bunch of marks on canvas. There is also a third component and that is the idea or concept you are trying to paint. It is the difference between seeing a solid object and the abstract thought about it. In this case I am painting abstract art using my video as reference for inspiration.

Abstract expressionism seascape

For Example:  You see in this short 10 second art video showing breaking waves against a jetty that is close to our home.  As I have said before we are only a couple blocks from the ocean and visit it almost daily and see it everyday. You may or may not see the influence of the waves and the sea.  But I see the different patterns that may show up and the feel of the ocean past where the waves are breaking.  And I see the colors.  Somehow my mind scatters all this visual information in my brain and out comes abstract art.  I don’t know how it works but that is how it comes out. It is an abstract seascape although you may not see it that way.  And that is fine too.  It can be whatever you want it to be.  

Abstract Impressionism Art Video Artist Inspiration

Artist Inspiration

Although I am not painting an actual scene when I close my eyes I I get inspiration from seeing something similar to what I have painted. It is as real to me as if it were an actual place. And it will elicit an emotion that is as alive as the actual place. Sometimes I think of a place I have visited and that had some sort of emotional quality that I want to recreate on canvas in an abstract way.

In this short video you can see that I started with the image of the ocean . The quality I am trying to capture is the feeling of being immersed in the surf - the turbulence of the water and the feeling of the waves coming over the rocks.

A Pelican?

You could ask what is the point of the pelicans? The main thing I am getting out of them is their beak and the way the neck twists and turns . It’s shape is interesting to me.

As a viewer you don’t have to see any of this in the painting. You can bring your own feelings and experiences to looking at it and what it means to you.