Embed KATHELEEN MITRO LUXURY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM ART: Metaphysical Painting A Look at The Creation of Vintage Grateful Dead From Start to Finish

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Metaphysical Painting A Look at The Creation of Vintage Grateful Dead From Start to Finish



I am demonstrating on very tiny canvas's 5" by 7".
First step is to lay down basic color or shape.
For my shape I use oil stick by Sennelier.
I do not intend any specific form I just make random slashes with the oil stick.
I then add a second layer of shape or form on top of the first, and rotate the canvas all four ways to see if  a picture is suggested.
Since all my work is most easily viewed from a distance (this works out quite well for aren't all painting hung on a wall and viewed from afar 95% of the time).
Just sayin :)
Third I stand the canvas's up and try to see again what picture is suggested, all the while continually rotating them all 4 ways until I have hit on the story I think it tells.
Now for the remainder of this article I am going to focus on one specific painting from the group, so you may see from start to finish how I paint the painting with no intent, add to it as I see a picture emerge and then read the canvas. 
When I can read the canvas and the painting pops with the picture from afar I am done.
Okay so this is the painting from the group pictured I have chosen to demonstrate.
At first glance the painting suggested to me is of a blue haired woman with an orange face.
At first I intended to go with it but I had chosen a neon orange and there was too much overwhelming orange color in the painting and looked ugly to my eye.
When in doubt and trying to tone down, I add black.
So I added a big blob of black (unfortunately I do not have a photo of this) and it looked worse, ugh all that black.
So then to lighten it I added white and thought hey that looks pretty good.
To add more visual interest and to balance the canvas I also added a different darker shade of orange.
The last and 4th step is what I call reading the canvas. 
I put my paints and paintings away and went to sleep and when I awoke I thought hey that painting looks like an album cover from the Grateful Dead that I have seen before.
So I use the godsend of google to search for Grateful Dead album covers and lo and behold there it is. 
Well at least the skull head with the roses.
Now incredibly if you look even the colors match.
Denim blue backgrounds on both.
Even the same orange semi circle on both.
Now to read the meaning of the painting one must ask questions.
1. Is there some death to be grateful for?
2. What does the music aspect mean in regard to the question of a grateful death?
3. What does a skull mean to me at this point in time?
4. What is the symbolic meaning of white roses?
One continues to ask questions until one's mind is satisfied with the answer, because all metaphysical painting is an answer given to a question the soul has asked.
I titled this painting "Vintage Grateful Dead"