Finding Abstract Inspirations on TV

Artists can find inspiration for future paintings in almost everything. Whenever there are bad thunderstorms in my area, or even a particularly hard rain, television pictures freeze into pixillated images that can become the inspiration for non-objective abstract paintings. So next time thunder and lightning threaten, grab your camera to capture these elusive images while you have the chance.

Here are three from my own files:

Don't try to paint exactly what you see. Instead, use the distorted shapes and colors as jumping off points for your own interpretations. If you have a photo editing program, you can further alter these "frozen" images in countless ways. For example, changing the colors, converting them to black and white, isolating or "framing" an interesting area within the image, and on and on. In fact, just one pixillated screen shot, altered using a program like Photoshop Elements, could become the basis for an entire series of paintings!

Text and images ©2017 Lynn Edwards

A Must-Have Book for Artistic Inspiration

Ideas for paintings and other art endeavors are all around us. Our familiar environments are rich with possibilities -- objects, colors, textures, patterns, and so forth -- but sometimes the problem is, they're so familiar we don't notice them anymore.

Books and articles on finding inspiration often suggest taking a camera to remote, less familiar locations to capture things that could prompt ideas for your art. This is a great way to go about rousing a sleeping Muse, but what if you're housebound? What if you don't own a camera? Aren't there any other ways?

There's a book that can help you if you're struggling to come up with ideas. It's 210 Imaginative Ideas for Painting: How to Find and Keep Your Inspiration by Marjorie Sarnat. If you can't find any ideas to work from in Sarnat's book, you might want to take up another line of work.

This author has thought of and describes almost every possible thing, condition, or scenario under the sun that could serve as a basis for inspiration. Do you paint still lifes? How about depicting a piece of fruit splattered with drips of colorful paint? If you work in collage, how about collaging one of those small poseable mannequins sold in art supply stores? Or painting a room's interior as seen through an empty goblet? Ideas for realistic and figurative work abound in the pages of this book.

Practitioners of non-objective art aren't neglected, either. Just two examples: homing in on a few square inches of old, worn out denim to use its faded markings as a compositional aid for creating an abstract piece. Or using unexpected surfaces and unusual shapes such as pieces of 2x4 lumber as supports for abstract, primitive or folk art works. There are many, many more.

Sarnat also provides a great many helpful insights on such topics as working in series, developing a signature style, creating a sense of mystery in your work, and determining what makes subjects "worthy" to name just a few.

I had no idea when I downloaded this book to my Kindle what an amazing resource it would be. I now view it as a studio essential. Get a copy and you may find you now have too many exciting concepts to choose from!

©2014 Lynn Edwards