Tree of Life - how a painting is born, part 2

on the day before my trip I was a little obsessed about the Tree of Life. I was feeling a little blocked - maybe because I was so tired and my eyes were hurting and feeling heavy. but I decided to start a quick research about the subject, since my knowledge about trees of life was a bit too generic. I could realize how complex it is, though, since there are myths about trees practically in every culture of this world.

working with myths is a treacherous field. the further you go studying them, the more excited you get to see how things unfold and relate to others, mainly inside yourself. ideas start to pop out from everywhere and you end up getting lost and frustrated because it's simply impossible to put everything in a painting. better take it easy, starting from the basics and hear your inner voice.

the Tree of Life is basically about how all the creatures' existence is intertwined and tied to this big net called Universe. microcosm and macrocosm together, skies and earth. looking at my rough study sketch, I notice that my figures composition is a triad - Virgin, Mother and Crone? - and that their heads make an almost perfect triangle.


I add to it another one, pointed downward. the Seal of Salomon, spirit and matter, macrocosm and microcosm, as above so below. if I had planned it, it wouldn't be so perfect.

so now you can see how crazy might be all this thing of creating art. this is why most of time I don't despair when I feel blocked. I know that the work (?) will point out the directions by itself, and things sooner or later fall into place.

I have a problem, now. I just found out the six pointed star in the sketch when I already had the definitive penciling done. and on the board the heads are not that aligned, the symmetry of the triangle is not the same. it would be kind of crazy to reject the first work and doing another one, more "into the rules" - even why, a second similar work is never like the first one. it might be better, or worse. I don't want to risk. I stick with the first, and accept the challenge of creating a pictorial solution that suggests, or simulates, the triangles.

another problem: the "tree trunk" is occupying more than 60% of the board area. ok, the three women are nice and all, the composition is attractive enough, but it's a Tree of Life, and it has to have a big, luscious canopy.

the solution comes in the form of additional panels, one at the top and one at each side. I like the idea, it will look like some kind of puzzle. nice, nice. and in each panel, what about to represent one of the four elements, or the four seasons? the four seasons are a perfect symbol for the cycle of life.

I look for images of Trees of Life around the web. I find many ones with branches and limbs in the shape of spirals. I paint a lot of spirals, but I wanted something different just because spirals are a kind of cliche for trees of life, and we must run away from cliches whenever we can. but... spirals are symbols of life! they represent cycles, evolution, fertility. the spiral is one of the oldest representations of the Goddess power. Klimt probably knew very well what he was doing when he painted his famous and beautiful Tree of Life. how could I run away from that?


but I want more in each one of the panels. I want more symbols, not only birds, fishes (I love fishes in unusual places) and mammals. I am now exploring a little of Kabalah and trying to find relations between its tree and mine. I know almost nothing of Kabalah and never could take the time to study it, so now I think I'm before a good opportunity to understand it a little.

Studies for birds.

clean.

I'm back from my short trip. I guess.

first action: to change the blog's layout. tired of that dark color, nothing like something clean. it seems like my thoughts can breath now.

be right back.

she's my masterpiece

hope you all have had a wonderful Mother's Day, like mine.

I'll have no internet connection for a few days. be back next week, hopeful with some new stuff to show you all.

Tree of Life - how a painting is born, part I

I decided to give me a more prolonged break from the the triptych and work in a different project. since I had planned to submit a piece to the beautiful Embracing Our Differences exhibit, I decided to start working on it. I thought that it might be also a good opportunity to show in more details how I create and build a picture - and how crazy and erratic the creation process can be.

the image submitted to the exhibit should not be very complex, but rather transmit the idea of acceptance and tolerance of the differences in a direct way. sometimes it's not easy for me to think simple, I have a certain knack for complexities - but not exactly because I plan them. then I had the idea to make a group of androgynous figures of different colors emerging from the ground. the figures should not show in their bodies nothing that could resemble race, or genre. the colors should be regular ones, like red, green and yellow, for example, and not skin colors. the intention is not focus in a special subject. the concept was to remind that we all are equal for we all are born the same way as children of the Earth and we all will die the same way and come back to Her.

when I still don't have an idea about what I want to paint, I usually feed my mind with pictures, videos, and music. usually my search doesn't last too long. I'm very imaginative and sometimes just a single vision of patterns in the wings of a bird, beautiful draperies or an unusual sunset sky are enough to inspire me with colors and shapes. and when I want to put a group of figures in the picture, I first need to do some study until finding a good, harmonic composition. I go to my collection of reference pictures, open my Photoshop and start to pick pictures and position them until find a composition I really like. usually it's when the real job starts and when more ideas arise. sometimes, the next step is to transfer the image in a very rough sketch to my sketchbook and start creating. other times, when I have a clear idea of what I want, I go right to the illustration board. the image is still blurred in my mind, so I'd better do some studies first.

in the sketchbook things start to change. first, I suddenly realize that the intertwined figures look better with their breasts. the initial idea begins to crumble. second, I begin to see branches coming out the arms and hair. the group of figures is now a big tree.

ok, we can use a big tree to represent structure, for example. differences structure the world, make it a most interesting and rich place. but now the figures have a genre, they are women. I'm afraid that my initial idea is now getting more and more dissolved.

now I don't know what to do with a big tree which trunk is made of three women intertwined. but I love the idea, and I want to continue on. but it's no longer a project for the Embracing the Differences exhibit. it's something else I don't know what is.

the word came to my mind all of a sudden: Tree of Life.

eureka!! what could be more appropriate for a tree of life than a tree made of women? I was in awe. almost immediately I started to sketch the figures on the board, using 2H and HB pencils.

little branches coming from fingers...

this is why I say that many times our creations don't really belong to us. they seem to have a life of their own. no matter what we plan for them, in their way to completion they may end up turning out something totally different. we artists are just the channel.

I finished the penciling today, or at least what I call the "basics". at the end of the process I'll fix what I judge to be flaws and enhance the shadows using a softer pencil (usually 2B or even 4B, but nothing beyond that.)

now it's time for the fun to start. in the next step I'll create the abstractions and define the branches, leaves and the other elements I want the tree to have. I confess I am still not certain of what to put in the tree besides animals and birds. a Tree of Life is something big and deserves to be well thought about. let's see what kind of insight I'll be granted with in the next days.

"The Chemistry" in Australia

last weekend the mailman left me something from Australia...

The Small Tapestry is a newsletter issued by the Pagan Awareness Network to all their members. it's very well done and informative. the Autumn edition is bringing my piece "The Chemistry" on its cover. thank you Veronica and PAN folks, I loved it!