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

Fauvism Painting

                           
                                                                   Garden Contours
                                                                    Acrylic Painting
                                                                      by Carol Yap


This is the time of bounty in the garden. Everything lush, blooming and growing like mad. One thing ends it's bloom cycle and another takes center stage. Lilacs, daffodils, tulips are finished blooming. Now it's peonies, iris, allium, azealeas and more! It's also hot, sticky thunderstorm weather, but that is what summer heat loving plants love. Like Dahlias and Cannas.

I'm still in the gardening mode even inside. Garden Contours is a portrait I painted yesterday. Basically I was feeling free and yet connected to the garden. The style is Fauvism, Impressionism, Expressionism and Modern Art. Does any artist fall into one category? Fauvism consisted of a small group of eclectic artists that painted landscapes and portraits in bright non realistic colors or in tonal hues.  It would have been shocking from the darker paintings of the Old Masters and rather delicious colors.

There are prints for sale at Saatchi Art online. They mail the prints directly to you.

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!