2 Canvas Paintings and Developments

I have to make and design two canvases which have to represent significant places or events which occurred in my life, one in abstract and the other with realism. I started planning my work in my sketch book, and since i was born and raised in the town of Blyth i had originally intended to o both my art based on the wind turbines which are significant icon for Blyth due to fifteen of them being spread over blyth harbour and they can be seen from a long distance away, and whilst I kept to the wind turbine theme for my abstract, I changed my realism to that of significant things which mean a lot to me over my desk with a window view of the ocean.

My realistic canvas is about my childhood and being raised to where I am to this day, the sea is set in Blyth, my hometown and the books are of significant importance due to my mother raising me with a high set of morals and religion, due to being from a strict religious background herself. The Asylum book is like my own personal bible as it has helped me through some hard times in my life and has things which i could relate too which gave some comfort. The whiskey signifies alcohol, I am a heavy drinker and use whiskey as a solution to problem and has a lot of deep meaning behind it, and mixed with the bible has a heavy atmosphere and could represent a lot of things.

I particularly like the contrast between the two books, one with dark tones and the other very bright and vibrant reds, allowing them to clash both in aesthetics and also in meanings, although they both to me are as important as the other.

I wasn't so pleased with the whiskey bottle due to leaving it last and finding it hard to get straight lines and it kept smudging with the other wet paints so for future reference I would start the painting with that done first of a higher standard.

I also used the golden rule to position the whiskey bottle 1:1.6 along the canvas and used it as a central point with all lines going towards it.

My abstract canvas is about Blyth, using its iconic wind turbines as the design for the image.

I used to baby sit my neighbours young daughter whom we painted little things with together, and being young her interpretation of Blyths turbines were very simplified like above, so I did similar designs of different shapes and sizes in a way to recreate me getting more independence through events such as baby sitting and how little things have gotten me to where I am.

As for the colours I went vibrant to try and make it very eye catching and something that audiences can spend a lot of time looking at without losing interest which I believe I have achieved as I get lost looking at this.

I used masking tape to get the lines straight but deliberately let some colours drip down and smudge to give the image a more free atmosphere as if everything was precise and neat it would lose the feel that I was aiming for, which is my childhood being free and fun whilst gradually picking up responsibilities.

My personal favourite things about this painting is that of my experimentation, such as the lower left turbine that i splurged red paint dots on, making it more 3D and interesting, along with the mix of reds and greens which contrast well with each other.