This is a really big adventure painting for me. I have decided to devote all my energies into figurative work for the time being as it has been a focus ever since I started my formal studies with an Illustrator when I was just 14. I used to see figures as exacting portraits but now that I have been at it for a very long time and fell under the spell of studying the work in museums and national exhibits, I see the figure as landscape and abstraction. When a painting becomes that, the artist, in this case me, becomes an exercise in composition, line, form, and color. I am no longer copying the perfect photograph hoping that all the details are accurate.
So here’s what happens: I go to the beach, wait for people to assemble, move around, and then bring out my sketch book and iPhone camera. The ideas are laid out, the color notes are described along with my feelings about the day. Was it overcast? Bright and sunny? Did my subjects seem to know each other? (I love to make up stories about that one!)
So then I head back the studio and think about what the theme might be. Sometimes I get stuck on that until one morning, over a good cup of coffee, it all comes together. I write it down as those moments can be fleeting. Then the work starts. I begin with line only then move to form and color. I have been known to change this many times but I am showing you the points I have landed on this week.
More to come…….
James is a member artist of Fifth Avenue Art Gallery. More about Jini James