Current Art Project - "Falling Up in the Redwoods"

     Now is the time to return to fine art painting, and I have the perfect project planned to get back into the groove. This next piece will be oil on wood-panels with several layers of acrylic glazing for the under-painting. I started this type of preparation on the last art work that I started, and now I need to go back to that process and refine it further, and also to finish that piece in the interim. (click on picture to see in full-screen)

This sketch provides of some of the ideas I've been playing out in my head:

- Side panels of looking up into Redwood trees
   - with lens flare lines that extend into the middle panel to have the eye follow into the middle panel.

- Side panels on wood to be able to cut out for curvature to provide 3D visual effect.

- Center panel to introduce butterfly elliptical shapes, with textures for metal, rock, and other earth elements.

- White line concentric circles to imply acoustic events taking place, and drum beats.

     - will also include a spiral shape of similar style (no shown in this sketch version).

- Middle panel with complementary colors from trees

     - The sketch is not rendered accurately to color balance; will be worked out in painting.

     - The side panels will be finished first and can be hung independent of the middle panel.

     - The middle panel can include different versions to change the mood of the environment.

Purpose and Manner:

The painting will represent the mental transformation experienced with being in a Redwood forest and looking up into the trees and experiencing a moment of inspiration.  The shape of the side panels will suggest a panoramic view and dimensional illusion, while the center panel will focus the eye on a fixed space with multiple textures that contrast yet complement the softness of the forest colors.  The hues will be somewhat subdued to allow the viewer to gaze as if in a dream-like state of mind.  When viewed laying down and looking at the wall, the illusion of being in the forest with a magical twist will be the desired result.
 

Process:

The colors will be matched better in the painting, and may be done with acrylic-based paints, with perhaps some oil glazes over some sections of the middle panel. Scumbling and other randomized rendering techniques will be used to build texture, while the precise lines of the concentric circles, outline of the elliptical shapes, and spiral shapes will contrast to the other earthy organic shapes.

The lens flare lines will extend from the side-panels and encroach into the middle panel to suggest that there is unity in the middle image that appears in the middle of the trees.

The use of wood panels will bring out colors better than canvas.