I took my first painting class last year. I had never so much as picked up a paintbrush before then, and had no idea what to expect. I was excited to explore this new medium but never thought I’d have any talent right off the bat. What I ended up creating was surprising to me, in that I actually liked what I made. Even more, I enjoyed the process.
Graphic design typically involves sitting in front of a computer for many consecuitive hours and sometimes doesn’t even involve paper. Painting was a break from the digital world. Working with a physical medium like paint was rewarding and challenging. It reminded me of the reasons I went into graphic design- I loved to create, and drawing had been my favorite activity since birth. Once I went to college, I explored that part of my creativity less and less, despite my requisite drawing classes. Painting came naturally, like this part of me was just waiting to be utilized.
Our first project was to recreate an existing painting. I recreated an oil painting by Judy Drew. Using texture was a new exploration for me, as my early studies of still lives in class were mostly flat and less detailed.
Our next project was a landscape drawing from real life. I dd a lot of sketching for this one and painted most of it from those sketches. I enjoyed playing with color, mainly using an inventive color palette while keeling it relatively accurate. It was in the process of this work that I realized my tendency to simplify objects and spaces.
Nearly a year later, I was producing work like this below, using more inventive color. The color became the focus. I enlarged portions of the center image to create the two smaller ones. The outcome made me more interested in abstraction. This was an exercise in letting go and not planning too highly.
I continued to explore color, as well as making more deliberate decisions.
Finally, this is a piece I am currently working on. It is my first time painting directly from my surroundings. It is an abstraction of me and my roommate’s makeshift studio in our house. I began with my usual simplified shapes and slowly added as much detail as i could, with very deliberate patterns and more representation elements. It’s decorative yet simple style relates to my work in graphic design.
