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 

Color, Shape and Expression Art

                                                                       Electricity
                                                            Acrylic on Hardboard
                                                                       Carol Yap      

This painting describes how I feel about Summer. An explosion of color, movement, and freedom. I painted this yesterday with a palette knife and acrylics in silence alone with my wandering thoughts of thankfulness. A horse bucks and jumps because it is free. Energy flies every which way. That thought in itself is beautiful. Here is how I expressed it in an expressionist-impressionist style.

Is everyone having a great Summer? With rain every day here we are living in a green jungle. The lawnmowers and weeder barely get cool before they are started up again. Tree seedlings have shot up 6 ft or more in a month.  We live in a jungle of green.

Find out more about my paintings here.

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.

Hawaiiana Paintings

                                                                      Sea Bird Painting


Lately I see the grain in so many things. Not just wood, but in contours of faces, in the soil, in the water. Ocean water is moving and we would think there isn't any grain in it. There is...and it moves along with the wind. Today I watch the tall fields of hay waving and the grains, or patterns, that were visible were beautiful.
I love looking at topography maps. It's like looking at a Hawaiian quilt with the stitches around the center pattern. Intriguing. That is how I use a palette knife in my art.

The above painting, Sea Bird, was completed today. I've had it up on the wall for a few days and decided it was complete after I added a little more today. It is a portrait of a Polynesian girl. What do you see in it? Do you see determination? Grace? It is for sale. Stop by my paintings at Saatchi Art. to find out more.

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!