NEW 'on my EASEL' PAINTING FEATURED 'THE FIRE FLOWER'




'THE FIRE FLOWER'        24 x 30   oil on canvas        2011 (c) Loren Fidalgo

Hey guys...  a new 'on my easel' painting featured. This painting is from the archives and I thought it would be an interesting one to write about.

The title of this painting is 'THE FIRE FLOWER'.  It is 24 x 30 and oil on canvas.  I wanted to feature this painting since my last post was about the small scribble drawings that I have been doing lately in one of my painting classes.  This painting was created from a small drawing with graphite pencil on paper.

SKETCH FOR 'THE FIRE FLOWER'
5 1/2 x 8 1/2 graphite on paper
2011 (c) Loren Fidalgo

 When I was sketching out this drawing on paper, I was letting my hand just scribble away.  I didn't know what I was going to create or see in the lines.  Eventually, I began to see a face that was coming out of a flower. I was thinking that I wanted there be no difference between the face and the petals as if the face was actually a living part of the flower. The features to the face are very minimal and some what human like and some what not. I chose them to be this way to not dominate the flower.  The face almost looks as if it is a lion or some kind of animal maybe a cat and I wanted them to be painted just as the drawing was done.

  When I began the painting from this drawing, it was a challenge to unify the petals and face so it was as if the flower petals and face had no separation.  I knew I had to do it with color and I love the colors of this painting. I started with this bright orange and yellow color for the background. I then decided to make the flower in orange and yellow to create this illusion of integration.  I didn't want too much contrast from the petals to the background. The painted edges are soft.  I placed the flower off to the left to have a more pleasing composition and show off the bright colored background.

I painted the stem of the flower in shades of greens, yellows and blues. The tips of the stem are accented in Cerealan Blue which is like a turquoise color.( I used a brush for this painting to blend the colors which is rare for me. I usually use a palette knife.)  I added the stem tips as if they are coming out of the bottom left corner to give some weight to the loosely painted flower and large stem.  It filled the space and gave the flower more mass because I didn't like looking through the empty orange space there. Since I wanted the flower painted as if it was emerging out of the background, the stems really worked. I didn't want to draw my eye in that direction.

Well, what does this painting mean?  What is it all about?  I think it might be about hiding in plain sight?  Possibly, it is about trying not to be seen or not wanting to make oneself more visible to others? It might be about concealing one's identity?  I think it is also about being able to see everyone else while at the same time not been seen by them.  When I did the drawing and painting, I was in a place where I was kind of feeling this way.  Part wanting to be open and out there and part not wanting to be obvious and noticeable. Now I think that I am glad those days have passed for the most part.  Every so often, I feel this thinking and emotion trying to emerge but thank goodness, I handle it better now. Have you ever felt this way? 

Well, that wraps up another 'on my EASEL'. This was a long 'on my EASEL' but I think a good one. I would love to hear back from you guys to see how you interpret this painting?  What do you see in it?  Have you ever felt this way?  Please feel free to leave a comment.

Cheers,

Loren

'on my EASEL' NEW PAINTING FEATURED



Hey guys... it's Loren and time for an 'on my EASEL'.  This is a series where I discuss an early painting and I talk about what the thought process I went into to create it.



'TIME TO OPEN UP'   18x24   oil on canvas    (c)   Loren Fidalgo 2010

I painted this piece back in 2010, however, I love it and the subject matter is this painting is titled, 'TIME TO OPEN UP'. and it is still current for me today.

When I was creating this painting, it began from a normal still life set-up.  I decided to shift the arrangement around and create something that would speak to me in a deeper way. I changes the arrangement and the colors.  I took the 'umbrella' and painted it on top of the mannequin to illustrate a figure/woman with an 'umbrella' as her head and face. It kind of makes one want to ask, "what is under there?"  The 'umbrella' is symbolic to me for the ability or inability to open up one's mind and heart. I chose to move the mouth off of the face on the 'umbrella' to hanging it from the bottle to suggest that this soul is suffering from being shy and not able to speak or open up. Thoughts and feelings from the mind, don't reach her mouth. The mouth however, doesn't go far and it is 'hanging on' to it's possibility to be able to speak by being in arm's reach. The eyes look on mysteriously and they are glancing out at you to express that she is so deep in thought and feeling and communicating, "I have so much to say!" While I was painting I knew I needed the courage to step into this new experience.

At the time I painted this piece, I was personally going through a lot of changes in my life and feeling like I needed to express myself in a deeper and more meaningful way. This painting was done about a year and a half after I began painting and my head injury.  If you would like to read about my 'destiny' and 'calling' into painting, please read HERE.   I was challenging the direction I was heading in with my artwork and my life in general.  I was asking myself questions and struggling while trying to make the changes that I knew would make major differences in my life. Although I wanted the changes, they were still overwhelming and somewhat difficult to encounter.  I knew nevertheless, it was time to try and open up, to speak out, to let it be known that I had a lot of thoughts and feelings that needed to come out. The 'umbrella' image in this painting was a perfect icon for expressing all this without words.

I love creating this type of painting with so much meaning and intense content.  It reaches and touches my soul in a profound way.  I love being able to express something with visual imagery, as well. Since I have began painting, I have been on a journey to dig deep inside myself and to be true to myself.  This painting was one of the paintings that was created in the beginning of this process.  I am still learning and experiencing intense changes.  It has all been good and welcomed.

Please feel free to leave a comment and to let me know if you have ever struggled with having the ability to speak up when needed?  I am happy to hear what you have to say.

Cheers,

Loren

 

NEW 'on my EASEL' PAINTING LOOKED AT UP CLOSE

Hey guys... it's about time for a new 'on my EASEL' painting to be 'looked at up close'. This is where I talk about a specific painting and the thought process I went through to create it.

I am excited to write about this painting because it is an earlier conceptual/fantasy work that I did and it is interesting in texture and subject matter. Let's get to it...

'OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND'    18x24   oil on canvas  by (c) LOREN FIDALGO 2011

The painting I have chosen is titled, 'OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND'.  It is 18x24 oil on canvas.

When I began this painting, I had my concept in mind and I knew I wanted to create a image of a girl pulling her eyes out of her head. "Why" you might ask?  I don't know exactly, but I had this image in my mind for weeks and I had to get it on to the canvas. I knew what I wanted to express however, I didn't know how I was going to do it, so I started by painting the background in a flat bright color of green and yellow.  I drew the outline of the figure and I painted out the girl's face with a palette knife in a textured and layered style.  I liked the contrast between flat blended color and the highs and lows in the texture.  As I was painting her face, the rest of the painting was coming together in my mind and I decided I wanted to create character's faces with vacant eyes missing from her bright red cheeks.  As I painted up to the top of her head, I began to imagine more and more faces with hollow eyes that would be coming out of her ' head', her 'mind' and her 'subconscious'.

I was thinking about how the young girl seemed to look so 'cartoonish' in nature, somewhat surreal/fantasy like. I liked the juxtaposition of this and the reality of the subject matter.  Her face shows her smiling and yet at the same time, she is crying only able to reveal one single tear. Her eyes, as well as the other characters eyes are as if they are on a strand of string which is being pulled from the heads and out of her mouth. One eye after another, then another, are coming out . 
This illustrates the title that she is 'out of sight', i.e.' she and they have lost their eyes and 'out of mind' because she has lost her mind to the characters residing in her head.  All the missing eyes are windows to the soul to this captivating girl and those who live 'upstairs' with her.

The technique of the textured effect was painted in layers beginning with the dark colors first and solely building up to the lightest and brightest areas on top.  I used a palette knife to lift the paint off the palette and lay it down onto the canvas.  I 'pushed and pulled' the paint around the canvas to the desired areas and I carved and sculpted right into the layers of paint below.  This could look random, however, it took some patience and time for the layers of paint to dry to allow for the additional layers of paint to be put on top. The end result is this combination of 'a little bit of paint and a lot of paint' all in one painting.

Well, this is a wrap up for this ' 'on my EASEL' painting.  I hope you enjoyed the new subject matter and the different technique from my other works?  If you have an interpretation of this painting that is different from my own, please by all means, share.  I would love to hear what others think about this piece.  I will be posting another piece with a similar technique some time in the future.

Thanks for checking in to reading about this piece and please feel free to leave a comment if you would like to.  It is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Loren