Research

I feel like when I try to make abstract art it d=really doesn't hold any form of candle to any other abstract art in existence. It's not something that comes easy to me.  Wanting to expand the sort of work I've been producing I've been taking more looks at abstract art, with a more analytical mind. these two paintings beneath are quite simple works, despite being relatively simple the colors are striking and they set a mood. either dread or emptiness and a contemplative patience.

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Russell Mills

I like the color schemes and mood of Russell mill works. With enough time I'd like to try to experiment and expand in this direction. I'm not even sure what it is that I like about them, they're often just very strong images so composition must be considered, color is considered, textures are always interesting. there is a tendency to use items in conjunction with paint. seemingly lots of unorthodox techniques such as mixing soil with glue and then outing that on a canvas to get strange textures.

Began first by painting a portrait of myself with an angry expression in oils. I left it after a bit, Tony said that he referred it when paintings weren't overdone. I'm not exactly sure what he means by that in my own work. It's an interesting idea to consider stopping before the finishing line of completion. Maybe my way of painting doesn't lend itself to the technique or that I left it too late anyways. Here's how it turned out anyways.

I was quite nervous to get back in water colors, the idea of not being able to just paint back over it was a bit scary. I practiced by making this nefarious looking skeletal horse rider and winter scene. from these old aesthetically pleasing magazines from the mid 20th century.

I then moved on to drawing myself in thin pen lines and then painting myself with water colors, to reasonable success I feel.

here's another one I made afterwards, messed up the bottom half of my face.

here's one I made of rose using a lot of cold colors

Here's huw and some royal figures with some cubes in tha background

I began to have a lot of fun with watercolors and introducing more styles so I thought I'd Try out some more styles and mediums in a grid, keeping the image the same to compare and contrast.

conclusion so far is that I genuinely dislike them all and am tired of drawing myself, so I'll move on to still life.
I'd say the top 3 are better than the bottom 3, the first abstract one is quite quirky and interesting. The second one which is just jumping straight in with watercolor without any outlines: it looks a bit cute. I'm not sure if this is a one-off. But it has a softer appeal. The Third is an abstract blue mess. Was quite fun to do but it probably suffered from 'overworking' or as I think Tony said "over cooking".

Drew a still life as preparation of some items on a coffee table.

This is an oil painting I made of the same scene, Enjoyed painting this. Nothing quite as nostalgic as looking back at a still life.