Light and Shadows With a Smile

Bring out the brushes. One to be exact. I did some very loose portrait studies on paper in acrylic. I limited myself to one big flat brush. These were done in one sitting. The light and shadow colors play off of each other here. The light was coming from the right side so I put in dark blue on the left. It gives the composition more interest and balance. I think a bundle of books could be written on skin colors. Some artists are a little secretive about their color formulas. Mine are warm because she is a "Sunny" person!

Links to more of my work.



.

Works in Progress

Inspirational wall or influential wall. What ever you want to call it, other than a mood board, that is what I am making. I could have a complete wall full of portraits of artists. There are many that have influenced my work. It could be their use of color, their brushstrokes, composition and other brilliant uses of paint. These are in the process of being painted in my style. Many didn't have photographs of themselves so I am painting from their self portraits. This Van Gogh painting is still in progress, but here is a cropped section of it. It only got 1/2 hour slot in my day. Will post more when completed. 

If you are on Instagram you can find me at Carol Yap Fine Art 

Find me on Google Plus under Carol L Yap

Browse my paintings for sale on Saatchi Art under Carol Yap

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

Modern Expressionism Self Portrait

If anyone wants a good laugh try painting a self portrait. They are amusing. Modern art is meant to entertain. The shocking part is that you also see some family resemblances right before you. Can that be? Yes. Very much so. So those artists of old who painted many self portraits were no doubt had a great sense of humor. They also learned valuable lessons from each portrait.

Here I am with all of my flaws and stories that show on my face...  A wonderful truth about modern expressionism is that we can put equal amounts of feeling and color in our paintings.

A painting can tell as much as a novel!

View more of my modern expressionist paintings on Saatchi Art

Just My Feet Beach Painting

                                                                        Just My Feet
                                                       Acrylic on Hardwood Panel Board  
                                                               July 30, 2015 Carol Yap  



Yesterday was one of  those days where I got the run around trying to get a simple document. I was told that I would need to get additional documents even though I brought what I was told to bring. So one quick stop turned into many stops. Now the good news....it brought about this painting.

One way to unwind for me is to paint. Paint something calming, soothing and make the churning colors look like they were made for each other. Being energized can yield some creativity on the canvas as I unleash it rapidly with a palette knife and paint.

There is something calming about walking on the beach. The waves throw themselves at my feet and yet the ocean is so powerful. The sand crabs scurry along in bursts. They are some of the tiniest creatures that call the beach their home. Their safe haven.



    

Paul McCartney Beatles Portrait

                                                                       
                                                                        "Vinyl Man"
                                                                     Portrait Painting

When the Beatles came to America I was probably seven years old. My older sister carried a transistor radio with her as the Beatles were catching on fire everywhere they went. This also was about the time Barbie dolls came out and this was what I thought about...but the Beatles tunes are very catchy. My older brother had an old-school-bus-yellow-Chevrolet station wagon that he called,  "The Yellow Submarine." We didn't get to live in it though. He drove it to high school, his part time job at Baskin-Robbins, and school dates.

Fast forward quite a number of years (key words, quite a number)  and I was at Union Station in Washington DC. I went into a Starbucks and asked to buy a limited edition Paul McCartney Starbucks gift card. The young man looked at me and he turned to another young man and told him my request. Of course, he looked at me and there was a gathering in the back while they chatted out of ear shot. Finally someone came out of the office as they were locked in the safe and I got one of the last ones! I think these young men thought that I was there in the day and they were witnessing a Beatles fan relic. I was looking back at a group of young Beatle fans.  That card is still in my possession hidden away so well I don't know where exactly it's at.

All between then and now Paul McCartney is now Sir Paul, but the same likable musician. My portrait of him is painting in a modern expressionist style of Sir Paul in his youth.

Painting available for sale and in print at Saatchi Art online. Enjoy.

  

Hawaiiana Paintings

Work in Progress

I've been working on some Hawaiiana paintings at home. This one I started one day but didn't have enough time to finish. I feel like my paintings are more fluid and flowing when I begin and finish in one setting. There are perks of  painting in different settings. I analyzed the colors and made some changes. I'm not sure I am 100% happy with this one yet so that is why I am not showing this in full color yet. It looks more vintage in black and white here. That brings up the subject of photographing your paintings in black and white to critique paintings. . It helps to analyze  pattern, texture and all over design. Let the camera be the silent critic. Smiles.

When this acrylic painting is complete I'll be listing it for sale on Saatchi Art 

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