Working out of my comfort zone.
After all these years (since I started painting again in 2013!) I still haven’t found my style ikigai (a Japanese term for "a motivating force; something or someone that gives a person a sense of purpose or a reason for living").
I think I’m almost there .. I can feel the thrill of when a painting finally feels finished, and I just admire it a little bit, because sometimes I have no idea how I managed to do it.
Having my series State of being alphabet allows me a little more freedom to experiment and try things maybe I wouldn’t.
I recently finished “Uprush” and really like how it came out. I went through many versions though for new techniques while using acrylics that I haven’t used in years!
I was almost going to leave this a black and white painting. I really love the textures and felt it would be the focal point.
However I still wanted to try new techniques. Onto acrylic and a dry brush; scraping and stippling the paint, then onto washes at the bottom.
After leaving the layer on the above right version overnight it felt a bit flat and dark. I knew I needed white, but I also had to go full colour and blending again. It’s just what I do and I need to embrace that.
I still need to work on composition and colour balance, but I feel this end result is something I am happy with and would love to explore more. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!