As I’ve discovered and keep discovering all the time, every artist is likely to have her or his own, individual way and process of creating their art works.
And it looks incredibly interesting. So, I decided to share my own process with you here and hope some of you will follow along and do the same!
Of course, life is moving on, so this is going to be rather a snapshot of how I am doing it today that something stable “forever”.
Mountain forest in Turkey, Black sea region, 2017
As for now, I’ve been painting mostly things that really exist. That is – those that I see and notice as interesting and beautiful or something that I passed by and felt strongly like painting it.
This actually comes close to the question of the meaning of art for me. What does it mean when an artist create some piece just because she or he feels a desire to make just this?
If there is a sense of art (and I believe it is), maybe, this sense is somehow hidden in these moments? I don’t know the answer to this question myself yet, so just sharing it with with you.
So, this is how it goes for me. First I see a place and think that I like it; then I go to this place with my colors and paper, set up my easel, and paint it. Or, sometimes I set off specifically for painting and stop when something catches my eye. It has also happened to me that I started something just as an exercise, without even being too selective, and it then evolved to a piece that I really liked!
Normally I paint from life, not using photos or preliminary sketches as intermediary. As for photos, for me, it is also because things on photos never look like they actually look in real. I did try it several times 🙂 Even if it is a really good photo.
Maybe, this thing about photos – it’s something about deepness (2D vs 3D) or colors or just individual perception? So, I prefer just go, stand in front of the thing, and paint it until the light dims away (and it’s also more fun like this!)
Though it is also difficult: the light is constantly changing in natural environment and you have to be very attentive and quick. Sometimes I put some colors and details “by memory” or by guess, when the real scene has already altered. And you have to withstand the temptation to change your colors constantly, as sun moves across the sky. First, because then it will last forever – and besides all, for watercolor painting, this would be the best way ruin your work!
Stone mole at the edge of Cide (pronounced [Jide] ) town, Black sea region, Turkey. 2017 – 2019
In many cases, especially with my earlier works, when I turned back to painting after a long break, I created my landscapes and cityscapes “all at once”, from start to end. I came to the spot with an empty paper sheet and worked on it several hours until I could reasonably call it done. This is how the forest mountain landscape above was made, among others.
The one on the right (above – on mobile) was painted the same way initially. But later I decided to get back to it, after two years, and work a bit more to make it more “complete”. It was not easy – this is one of the cases when it’s critically important not to “overdo” it!
This is one of my first works (Vietnam, beginning of 2018), for which I applied a longer, “2-step” process. I stared it one day and then returned to the same exact place with my easel the next day. This allowed me to catch about the same late afternoon light for twice as long time!
Later I repeated this experience several times, finding it very helpful – and also more relaxed 🙂
This recent watercolor from Istanbul (this summer) can be pinpointed as some kind of a champion. I painted it from the same spot – near a living room window in the apartment of an amazing lady who was my host – during 4 or 5 days for 1-2 hours a day, adding a new layer of elaboration each time I approached the easel.
You can see here how it was – I documented the process! And yes, it was a very relaxed experience.
…let’s stop by now and in my next post I will pick it up right from here.
See more of my works in my online gallery
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