Contemporary Paintings

                                             
                                                   A Man of Few Words but Read Many                                                                                                                       Acrylic on Paper

It has been good to work solely with brushes again. Big brushes. You can't get too many small details but you can make your color values work harder for you instead. This is a painting of my Dad reading the newspaper. This is a cropped section of it. When you see a photo of someone you don't always see their personality...that is what the artist adds. My recent studies have been contemporary paintings.


If you're on Instagram visit @carolyapfineart

Watercolor Self Portrait

If our lives are like a field I have many furrows on my self portraits.  But then sheet music has lines so surely our portraits can be like music which is hidden between the lines and above and beyond them as well. I did this today on white watercolor paper and then digitally gave it a background color. I would gladly paint anyone else but myself. The good points are that the model is free. If I can use the word "model" and my name in a sentence is questionable.

Learning and getting comfortable painting my self portraits is my job this week. Hopefully your week is just as fun.

More of my art can be seen on Saatchi Art

Hawaiiana Paintings Today

                                                                 
                                                                     Work in Progress

Today I got out the brushes and left my palette knife alone. It's an odd feeling, but keeps the cobwebs out of my brain by using them again. And everyone knows I could use a little brain help. The good part of making fun of myself is I know when to stop. Right after I've started.

Working with paint brushes gives me wider strokes that is for sure. I can't guarantee that I won't use my palette knife on this, but for now I am resisting. This photograph was taken 45 minutes after I started painting. I want it loose and impressionistic so I've stopped now in the creative process to evaluate. Most likely the finished painting will be for sale online at Saatchi Art

I've started this new group of portraits from my memories of an old store in Hawaii now closed, but I used to go there alot. It was called, "Gems." It was just a short walk away. All of the Hawaiian ladies use to sit on the benches outside in the shade while their families shopped inside or just to "talk story" and rest their feet. Ninety nine percent of the ladies had their hair pulled back and fresh flowers pinned in. Young and old alike. There were large white plumeria trees against the building that tossed their blossoms to us. Most were swept away every morning, but that didn't stop the trees from sharing their fragrant blooms during the day.

 

Children's Portraits in Progress

                                                                     Portrait Progress

I was able to work on this large portrait for another 45 minutes. I chose to take the classical portrait route with brushes and not a palette knife thus far. It needs more work but I wanted to show this childrens portrait painting in progress. This is a section of it and it's pretty detailed.

The reason I chose to paint this with brushes has it's reasons.

1. I read an editorial on an art site that said people who proclaim they are self taught artists and have not been to art school never paint hands. In essence the artist was saying we can't paint a classical portrait with hands in the painting or paint people for that matter either. Yes, this portrait has both hands in it. You will see the unveiling of the complete portrait.

2. As an artist it's good to show your artistic ability with any tool. I read of one Old Master's painting that had his fingerprints all over in the painting. They actually counted them. Yes.

3. It's a large painting and it would use a little less paint with brushes.

4. Back to number one all over again..

I love how the sun rays dance around in this painting. There is so many reflections bouncing off every which way.

To be continued.

 

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Childrens Portraits - Creative Process

Behind the scenes I am diligently working. This portrait I started today. I've had many interruptions, but that is fine each time I come back I have a few more questions for myself. Some answers are clear and some a bit fuzzy. The creative process is an open zone to ideas. This one I started with a big brush and it's a larger painting on canvas. Am I  going to use brushes to complete or just to get some color and composition on the canvas? That's one of the fuzzy questions...and it better get clear as I'm at the intersection and people will start hollering if I don't proceed in one direction or the other.  It is my choice though as I'm the artist. So I deliberate with luxury and a lemonade. I try to focus on the end result, and the possibilities keep popping up.

Every day we are presented with questions and possibilities and we race through them  with, "Yes," and "No," and "Someday," or "Never."  We are almost computerized, but a painting is a work of passion and when it comes to love, we don't want to mess up. Possibly I will show you much progress tomorrow on this painting. For now I will have another glass of lemonade (it's finally wonderfully warm here) and think about the background. Do I want it full to the brim or rather simple? Decisions. Decisions. I really love the creative process at this moment.

Do check out some of my original paintings paintings for sale at Saatchi Art.  

If you want to see photographs of paintings and very little talking you can visit my Google Chrome posts 

Enjoy!

Painting Montana's Prairie

                 
                                                                Painting In Progress


I'm currently working on this acrylic painting hoping to finish tonight. It's a painting of the Montana prairie, a mustang pony, and a family member. I'll be the first to say this has a punch of color. My Dad would always say he thought the most beautiful landscape was in Eastern Montana. When I was little and we visited I thought it looked barren, but these grassy plains were my Dad's playground when he was growing up in a large family. They raised sheep and cattle and they didn't have fences except in a barnyard corral. They all herded sheep. Someone had to be out there with them all of the time. These days you see field after field of wheat in the Summer. Also pheasant, elk, quail and a long list of fowl and animals.

I tried to get the richness of the colors when the sun gets a bit lower.There is so much sky out there. I made it darker than I normally would to set off the grasses.  The grasses are remarkable in the late afternoon and much darker. For this painting I actually brushed in a sketch of the mustang pony (what you see) and now I have to paint it with a knife and touch up the man. That of course will prompt me to do a little more here and there. The creative process. Some days it's so smooth you can't believe it. Other days, well, it's a little longer road to the finish line.

Thank you for visiting. Leave a comment if you like.

This will be for sale online with Saatchi Art

Miss Kolden Impressionist Painting

                                                                       
                                                                       "Miss Kolden"
                                                                      Masonite Board
                                                                       For sale here.

There is something peaceful about painting. I hope that is one thing that might show up in my paintings.

I've noticed in my portraits, this one included, that the eyes never look directly at the viewer. My goal is to make them look slightly relaxed and approachable.  I say, "Slightly." I also mean, "amused, thinking, shy, or busy."

Today it was a delicious temperature,  in the 70's. It made me wonder how these ladies in the1800's and early 1900's wore all of these long sleeves and long dresses, etc. in the summer months? And happily cooked over a wood stove. One thing we know. they probably weren't cold. Whew!

The garden will start popping open  flowers like popcorn after a few warm days. I can't wait to paint some of the gems. Hopefully their happy faces will be obliged.

Abraham Lincoln Portrait

                                                                       14 x 11 inches
                                                                           Acrylic
                                                                         Carol Yap    

This painting started out with brushwork and I was going to leave it like that. It did stay that way for a few days and every time I walked by it, I thought, "I have to change it."  When the opportunity to paint came I changed it to a palette knife portrait and the looks are much different. Raw and meaningful I would describe it. More texture, more personality, more courtroom wear and tear of a young lawyer. The former was too smooth and we know his life wasn't exactly smooth. All of these things reminded  me of other painters and their feelings about painting.

Edgar Degas, "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things."

Degas also said, "Painting is very easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do."

The funny thing is I understand both of these conflicting statements. When we are painting we are a mixed bag of emotions. Degas painted around forty self portraits at the beginning of his career. Edgar's stomach must have sank and lifted a few times.

Details of Abraham Lincoln's portrait painting for sale here.

Van Gogh's Birthday

                                                                 
                                                                   Mind Word Threads
                                                                           Acrylic
                                                                           8 x 10
                                                                        Carol Yap


Yesterday, March 30th was Van Gogh's birthday. I must say I did think of him when I used a palette knife for this painting yesterday.  For me the palette knife gives energy and vibrancy to the canvas regardless of the color used. Van Gogh used brushwork for that. He could paint four green vegetables against a green background and it looked great.  Do you think he had those moments during painting where you feel you are balancing on the brink of disaster or genius? Which is felt momentarily about half way through a painting, but dissolves as you continue to paint. There was an "Aha" moment for me when I looked into this painting and saw a resemblence of myself. This was painted from an old black and white photograph of one of my ancestors. The image was about the size of my thumb so it didn't give me much to go on, but was a start.    

Mind Word Threads is now available at Saatchi Art 

                      

Electric Portraits

                                                                           SOLID
                                                                 Acrylic on Hardboard
                                                                       10 x 8 inches
                                                                         Carol Yap

Anyone need their portrait painted? I have completed three portrait paintings in the last week and it's given me confidence to continue. This fine gentleman above is my Great Grandfather who passed before I was born. I do know this about him that he loved dark, strong coffee and worked hard from dusk to dawn for his family. Hopefully this shows in the painting? I think the energy is present at least. I will move forward onto the next fourth portrait.

I've listed a few more recent acrylic paintings for sale online at Saatchi Art. You can view my painting there by this link. There are many artists there that have been through art school. Since I didn't go to Art School there is a bit of white empty space in that box area. Gah. I will work hard and try to fill my portfolio with great art. I do believe that art is alot about emotions mixed with color and composition, brushwork, etc. Emotions I understand. Color I understand. It's funny because there are no two artists "exactly" alike. With every painting I create it's like weaving Emotions, Color, Brushwork, (or texture) and composition together by my internal creative genius. Some days present some days hiding. Everyone is born with one inside. We just have to wake it up and make it work, work, work.              

Seven O'Clock Painting

                                                                        Seven O'Clock

                                                                            Acrylic
                                                                          Carol Yap

I've had a crush on teal and orange for a bit now. Teal always represents the tropics for me like Tahiti, Fiji and those faraway-warm-South-Pacific places. Then there are the beautiful vintage Mexican wedding dresses in teal that are striking, too. A teal tablecloth, flowers and fruit are the next best thing to the balmy, beach. Who can pass up flowers? 

This painting is titled Seven O'Clock because that is when the first rays shine through the window lately.  I used a  8 x 10-inch hardboard panel, acrylics and a palette knife. Every small painting I paint I feel like I see a little growth. Do any of you see it? No need to answer that!  It is for sale now with Saatchi Art. It is such a joy to paint. Sure we might have a little frustration, but we figure it out, and sail on.    

Nine O'clock Painting

                                       
                                                                       Nine O'clock
                                                                          Acrylic


Spring is starting to announce it's arrival. Today two Canada geese arrived. I believe one of the two is from some eggs we hatched out years back. Yes! The other day as I was taking a coffee break I loved how the light was on the table with my oranges so I had to paint it. It's finished and I have listed it with Saatchi Art  Feel free to link over.

I read the best quote for us artists the other day on Instagram.

Pablo Picasso, "Painting is manual; it is physical. You find in the materials with your hands. You have a blank piece of canvas. The picture is already there. You scrape for it. It's like digging potatoes."

The Paris Review no. 32 Summer Fall 1964

PleinAir Salon Contest

Reminder to all artists.  There are only a few more days left to enter the annual PleinAir Salon Contest. Grand Prize is $15,000. That should get everyone's attention. It surely got mine. There are also First, Second and Third prizes as well.  It's only $35. to enter first painting and $15. for each painting entered therafter. Just what exactly are the judges looking for? Find out here. Exciting! Deadline is March 15th at midnight. I'm hoping to enter.

Here is the link to submit photographs of your best outdoor paintings. Winning art gets featured on the front of PleinAir Magazine plus you will get to stand center stage in Monterey, California in April and receive check and mingle shoulder to shoulder to some of the best Plein Air painters around. Sublime.

Barns Contemporary Painting

                                                                       
                                                                        Familiar Faces

My palette knife was put away for brushes. I must go outside my comfort zone to grow and think about design and composition in an abstract way. You don't see many sharp edges in my paintings and that changed today. All of my art must have meaning from myself, coming from within.

These two barns are on the farm and I see them often when I look out the window. We used to run up and down the ladder, stack hay high in the loft and look for kittens in them.  They are familiar features in the landscape and they have a fond place in my heart. This is how I saw them today! I painted this abstract landscape with acrylic paint on cotton canvas.

It was below zero this morning with so many closings, both business and schools, that it was a good time to work on some art projects here. I hope you have a great weekend.

Flower and Sugar Art

                                                                            Side One    

                                                                       Flower and Sugar 

                                                                      Carol Yap Painting

          

My hand healed enough to finish some palette knife paintings. Here is a sneak peak of one side of my 8 x 8 x 8 inch box that I painted for The Artists Gallery Auction in Frederick. With all of the Winter snow and ice we continue to see how could I not go bold and brilliant? It is also March and the ground is still frozen solid.  There are five painted sides, three are bright and two are toned down, but hold their own weight against the others. 

Opening reception is March 7th Saturday,  from 5-9 pm at 216 N. Market Street, Frederick, Maryland. Located right next to Volt Restaurant. Make it an evening!   Check out their menu.

MICA Baltimore Self Portrait Show

Raoul Middleman is exhibiting his 50 years of self portraits at Mica in Baltimore through March 6th. I hope to be able get to see it soon.  But I've been thinking about self portraits...as the last person I want to paint is myself. Is it because I have to paint the good, the bad, the ugly, and find the beautiful? Or is it because I have to get better acquainted with myself. Dig down deep and sort things through?

MICA curator Caitlin Tuck-Melvin has this to say, "Middleman is part of the rich history of painters capturing themselves in paint, and through his self portraits we see someone who is exploring himself, unafraid to be ugly or vulnerable."  So that sums it up for me. We have to be fearless in our exploring and painting ourselves. It's alot more than color and composition. It's confronting ourselves.   

MICA's galleries are free and open to everyone. Hours are 10 am-5 pm Monday through Saturday.  Sundays the hours are 12-5 pm. If you can't make the trip do visit Raoul's website. 

Carol Yap Paintings