Eternity paintings – two new ones.

Here are a couple of new Eternity paintings which have been put in the Small masters works section and Surreal Mixed Media section of this website. I’m working on a large number of these small ones at the moment.This painting is called Embryo and is a mixed media on canvas.

This second one is called Amoebic Universe.

Embryo involved a great deal of draftsmanship and is very detailed. It is very hallucinogenic. You can see more things in it as you look into it. Figures, objects and faces will pop out at you if you look for long enough.

Amoebic Universe is much more painterly. It is also less detailed. Both paintings have been built up with many layers, but those layers are more visible with Amoebic Universe. A large amount of ink was added to Embryo whereas only a small amount is present in Amoebic Universe. These two works are eternity paintings which express different aspects of eternity. What exactly those aspects are is entirely up to the viewer and is bound to change from one viewer to another.

All of my eternity paintings are meant to evoke some sort of idea or feeling surrounding the concept of eternity. However, the means, approaches and techniques used to create the imagery vary greatly in these works. The titles are generally poetic. They suggest rather than dictate possible meanings in these works.

Tropical botanical painting – a new one.

Tropical botanical painting.

Three tropical botanical paintings have been completed now. This is the third one is simply called Tropical Design 2. It is located on the botanical paintings section of the website. All the details, including price can be viewed there in the usual way.

My Masters is near completion and I will be gearing up to do more botanical paintings, and surreal paintings soon. I’m hoping to have an exhibition at the Professional Centre next year. I will include some of my music (probably on CD) at the exhibition.

This particular tropical botanical painting was a lot of fun to complete. In order to achieve the glowing yellows, greens, and reds of the succulent I had to build up the paint in thin layers over a long period of time. In contrast, the paint on the wood was able to be painted more quickly using thicker paint. I really love painting these succulent plants because of the glowing bold colours which they contain. The great thing about painting tropical botanical paintings is the brightness of the colours in the works. I can be uninhibited about using paint straight from the tube onto the canvas as this actually helps attain the effects I want to achieve in the painting.

The dullness of the wood in the background really contrasts with the vibrancy of the colour in the succulent plant.

Paypal. I have a Paypal account now.

I have a paypal account now so it is possible for you to pay in this way. Strangely, no-one has asked for this over the last few years, but suddenly I’ve had a couple of customers asking for it so feel free to ask if you want to make a purchase.

My new botanical paintings and a couple of surreal paintings are coming along. They will be posted soon.

Inspirational paintings.

What are inspirational paintings? Inspirational paintings can be those paintings which the artist feels have come from an inspirational source. They may be purely intuitive in nature or they may be intellectually designed in such a way as to elicit inspiration in the viewer. What the artist does not see as inspirational the viewer may very see as inspirational. The inspiration may be purely intellectual as in many conceptual paintings.

Some viewers may see landscapes or botanical paintings as inspirational in some way. Others may need to search a painting for inspiration. Here abstraction and surrealism may play a part in coercing the viewer into seeing or feeling the inspiration in a work.

Many of my surreal and masters works were begun by simply splashing the paint onto the canvas and hoping for an inspiration to arise through the process of painting itself. This is about as intuitive as it gets. Many of my small masters works are particularly painted in this manner. Layers of paint build up an image that is created during the actual process of painting itself.

Buds.

On a more practical level: doing the recent illustration for the magazine has inspired me to do a new series of Botanical paintings. I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet, but I’ll have to get started soon – I’m feeling the urge coming on. It is so much easier to be creative when one is inspired. Inspiration comes from excitement about a subject, image or idea. When this idea or subject starts to take on form that is when the cycle of inspiration feeding creativity feeding inspiration occurs. This is always an exciting state to be in.

Strangely, inspirational paintings can also be created when one is not inspired. At these times the artist needs to be stubborn and keep plodding along despite his state of mind. The rewards of hard work can sometimes be the most satisfying of all rewards.

American Cranberries – The Art of Eating

I’ve been asked to do an illustration of American cranberries for an American magazine “The Art of Eating” . They loved it. Here is the illustration. The work looks great in the magazine. The money wasn’t great but it was only for a quick illustration. This is why the image is more sketchy than my usual work which can be found on the botanical paintings section of the website. The magazine is about all things food. It has recipes and articles about food sources such as the one my illustration decorated.

I would love to do more illustrations for more magazines. If you have any ideas or jobs you would like done just contact me.

I can also do portraits, commissions of all sorts or anything you think my work may be suited to. Please feel free to contact to discuss any work opportunities you may have for me.

I am a very open negotiator and am always willing to listen to the needs of the customer and make compromises as needed.

Illustration of American Cranberries for the American magazine, The Art of Eating.

If you are interested in using my work for your book cover, magazine, etc just contact me. Examples of more sketchy works of mine can be seen on the Botanical sketches and landscape sketches sections of this website. Also my small masters works and drawing in black and white may give you an idea of the sorts of various styles I am capable of.

Blue Vein – New Painting. A macro view of rocks.

This work is called Blue Vein. It’s a new work in the landscape section where you can find its details. It is a macro painting of some rocks located near Coffs Harbour. The blues and oranges in create an interesting push and pull in an otherwise flat painting. The surface is littered with interesting shapes and lines, crevices and bulges which sweep across the surface. Blue Vein is painted in oils and uses broad colours which come close to primary colours. There are few greys in Blue Vein. Realism is sacrificed and replaced with motion and pattern and line.

The landscape painting can be a vista incorporating aerial perspective in order to create the illusion of depth. However this painting chooses to depict a small flat section of rock becoming more of a portrait of a section of rock on the surface of the Earth. The workings of the sea are evident in the pock holes and interesting patterns running across the surface.

The work is small and intimate. It is taken from a spot near Digger’s Beach north of Coffs Harbour. There are numerous spots near Digger’s beach similar to this one. Blue Vein is typical of the type of rock formation present near this popular swimming and surfing beach.

Evening Light – a new painting in oils.

Evening Light is painting has only been recently completed. It is one of many medium sized botanical paintings and is located in the botanical paintings section. I will be posting more new paintings up in the coming weeks. Stayed tuned.

Evening Light

The blue of the evening in Evening Light vies for attention against the stronger pinks of the flower in the centre. The flower is in focus and stands before the softer and less focused light of the background. Shapes in the background are only suggested and therefor only suggest the depth that lies behind the main motif.

Many of my botanical paintings employ the contrast between a hard edged main motif or foreground feature and a more soft focused background. The painting is a macro portrait but suggest a world beyond the focus of the flower.

The highlight on the edges of the flower suggest that the night has not yet completely come. It also adds a transparency to the petals of the flower. The flower is both strong and delicate, like most living things. Yet it is still at one with the blue evening light which signals the approach of night.

Yellow Grove 2 – a new painting.

Yellow Grove 2 is a new botanical painting situated in the botanical paintings section of this website. It is a sister painting to the earlier Yellow Grove which is also shown in this section of the website.

The work is more complicated than its sister painting. It reflects the haphazard nature of nature. The highlights around the flowers suggest that light is infused with the flowers themselves. It is light which not only makes all things visible but here it is light which nurtures and feeds the flowers and the surrounding foliage.

Yellow Grove 2 is more like a dance than its sister painting. The 2 red bugs which provide a colourful break to the greens and yellows which dominate the painting seem to dance with the light, the flowers and the sinuous stems which hold and support the flowers.

There is only joy in this painting. The flowers face different directions like the dancers of a dance hall. Their faces may be soft, but the light fills them with the joy of life.

There is a pleasant tension between the background and foreground which slightly flattens the painting but adds to the movement within it.

Retrospectus – A great night had by all.

The opening night of Retrospectus was a huge success. Over a hundred people attended and enjoyed a night of music, art, with a speech and raffle thrown in. Food and drink kept everyone happy and talkative and I managed a couple of sales with about four more possible sales on the cards. The exhibition is still on – indefinitely. Retrospect’s is open Monday to Friday 9:00 to 5:00 and all visitors are welcome. The paintings look great and it’s a lot of fun looking around different rooms and corners to see where the next painting may be.

My work is quite varied as the different sections on this website illustrate. The Professional Centre is an ideal venue for the variety of work Retrospectus offers. There are so many nooks and crannies in the centre for people to wander around in. Different works can be grouped in different sections. Some of the sections are suited to smaller works while others sections more suited to the larger ones. Even some of the offices in the centre have my paintings in them.

Retrospectus

Modendaity.

This painting is a comment on the absurdity of the idea of creating one’s own religion or spiritual belief. The turtle could be a man made god or possibly just a spirit of enlightenment. Its coming out of the clouds like a super hero is a comment on the need to find something greater than ourselves.

Tropical Design 1.

This is one of three tropical works shown in Retrospectus. It is painted in high keyed primary colours yet retains a heightened sense of realism. The use of complentary colours gives the work a supernatural strength.

The Professional centre is located at Level 9, Park Avenue, Coffs Harbour. It’s 3 doors past the car park on the same side of Woolies, or opposite Crazy Clarks.

Emerging Joys – a new painting.

Emerging Joys is another new painting showing at the Professional Centre. Here it is.

Emerging Joys

Emerging Joys.

This painting can be found in the Surreal Mixed Media Paintings section of this website. All the details can be accessed in the usual way.

Like many of my surreal mixed media paintings this work has been improvised from start to finish. The paintings is built up in layers of mostly oil paint. Ink has also been added to give the work a colourful edge which gives the painting the feeling of joy it expresses. The colours are mostly light. I have refrained from using darkness in the work to help express the happiness and liveliness of the topic.

An emerging joy can be the most pleasurable and exciting of all joys. When we anticipate something good coming the feeling of excitement is often greater than when the good thing actually arrives. The colours almost have a Christmas feel to them and the predominance of yellow helps to make everything glow. Light smothers everything. There are lights atop of lights in this painting.

While the mostly ink forms give the painting solidity and focus they do not dominate the work. Instead they help to bind the composition and keep the viewer’s eye moving around the work. The painting is only a small one which suggest the idea that the most special joys in lift come from the smallest and most insignificant things.

Leonard Aitken – Artist

Botanical Paintings

Eternity paintings – two new ones.