Painting “After the Rain, a Contemplative Walk”

life, Paintings, Thoughts, 27 Comments
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The silent moments after a storm.

Sketchbook Doodle

Life is cruising along quite nicely and then, something within tilts, and then shifts. A storm of inner change is coming. More useless garbage will be blown out, and room will be made for a greater understanding of life, compassion, and the bigger picture. Still, it is difficult not to cringe while the pressure is building. It’s an uncomfortable time. “Can we do this next week, I wonder?”

Washes of Colour

This sketch is a doodle, abstract, yet linear and contemplative. It represents “battening down the emotional hatches”, focusing on paying attention to the opportunities to shift, and riding the storm into a new awareness.

Deepening Contrast and Reflective Light

As I lay-in the washes of colour, I notice I am still painting at an angle, as if reflecting the similarities to a boat in a storm, or the physical body in a storm, the equilibrium can be off. Life and the self, can feel fragile, uneasy. However the sense of baby steps, guidance and of being  protected is there as well.

Contrast and understanding deepens, equilibrium returns, colours and thoughts become brighter and reflective of a new mindfulness. The storm recedes, quiet waves move in bringing peace, and treasure. A deeper sense of grace to contemplate with each step we take, as we walk within the gift that is our life, on this planet.  — Thank you.

“After the Rain, A Contemplative Walk”

    1. Thank you Elaine! This one went relatively quick (for me…) I spend a lot of time simply watching it in my mind after each step. After I chose the doodle, roughly 26 hrs, give or take. Some paintings can clock about 100, but if I rush, or just want to be finished, I’m out of the flow and just flailing around….and it’s really obvious, lol. – Thank you for asking! –

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  4. Your work is so beautiful! I noticed on the “top 50 digital art blogs” bio about you it says you use a Winsor and Newton digital watercolor palette. I was curious what that is? I used their color charts to make colors swatches for Procreate but it doesn’t really turn out to be that useful since color mixing from an analog style palette is not very efficient in that app and maybe just an unnecessary step. I assume you work in Photoshop? I could use that with my old Wacom Intuos but then I have to actually sit at my desk at my iMac and I’d rather use my big iPad and sit anywhere.

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    1. Thank you Jana! I painted watercolour for many years before going digital, and there are many artists, as well as Winsor Newton themselves, who have painstakingly created a digital pallet of all of the WS line. Yes, I use a Wacom Intuos tablet, and yes Photoshop. I now use a combination of about 200 brushes (about 14 are my “go-to’s). I also use the Oil Paint method of glazing, building layers of colour. This offers me the luminosity that I love. However, what ever method you use, PS or Procreate, I feel you can get the results you are striving for. Your work is simply so very lovely!

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  5. Thanks so much. I think I get it now, I too was a watercolor painter for many years so I understand how using the palettes with a glazing/transparent approach would work well. I could make one with just my favorite go-to pigments and glaze with that. But I’m more interested in painting in oil using opaque colors and thick juicy brush strokes right now and trying to mix as if I was using a palette knife and thick paint doesn’t work too well. Anyway, it’s lovely meeting you and chatting. Thanks so much for the visit!

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  6. Amazing per usual. This painting is visual of how my mind feels while on mood stabilizers…if that makes sense. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Makes perfect sense, emotional storms are a bumpy ride, but the magic of what is true returns after the storm. Exactly the goal for what this painting is representing. Thank you for a wonderful confirmation……and thank you so much for letting me know!

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Beautiful! I particularly like how you blended the abstract art into the picture; what a great way to add new dimensions and meaning! 😉

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    1. Thank you! I am so happy for this comment, it is exactly what has been percolating in my creative mind for quite some time, and I’m going with it. Thank you again!

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  12. I love the depth in this one. The colors, the shapes and the final layer of her walking amongst the abstract. It is kind of like life…..we have to walk amidst the chaotic ups and downs and eventually learn that that is life in itself. We have to keep our stride within that chaos and use our umbrella of experience to deal with what comes our way….💗. Love it my friend!

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    3. You are expressly welcomed to post your interpretations and insights on each and every post of my work, and I would so love that! Its one of the reasons for creating it! Thank you again!

      Liked by 1 person

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