Sunday, June 11, 2006

Inspire me Thursday: Show and Tell




The idea

I had a lot of fun working on this piece. For a long time I had been contemplating basing some of my bark series paintings on Birch trees. Their trunks are very interesting to look at. They have pieces of bark that peel off and continue to hang on to the trunk. The trunk is a reddish hue, the bark a beautiful pale brown, and the underside of the bark is a pale yellow. This juxtaposition of the red of the exposed trunk with the pale colours of the pieces of bark creates a brilliance that arrests the eye. Also, the bark is textured while the exposed trunk is smooth – this contrast also makes for an interesting subject. Considering the “peeled off” nature of these lovely trees, I decided on collage as the best medium for this artwork.

The Materials and Technique

I used two 11 X 15 (inches) cold pressed heavy paper for this work. I cut one of them in four, painted two of those pieces brown, and the other two a combination of warm colours that I have observed on birches. I did not use a reference photograph – I just wanted to be spontaneous in my choice of colours. After the paint (watercolour and acrylic) dried, I cut these pieces into further bits to resemble the bark pieces. The paper, when torn, exposed its weave – this inadvertently enhanced the textural effect I wanted to create.
Next, I painted the other uncut 11 X 15 paper a pinkish red (the exposed trunk) with horizontal brush strokes. Following this, I tried out different arrangements of the cut up pieces over this paper until I was satisfied with the overall effect. I then glued the pieces taking care to leave parts of the paper unglued to look like peeled off barks.
The work, as I said, made me very happy. It was an added bonus to find that it suited a frame that had been lying around a couple of years!

26 comments:

Rose said...

I think im beginning to fall in luv with barks..

~smiles~

:D

..Me

Heartful said...

Beautiful, love the earthy colours and textures.

Suji said...

Wow, thats a lot of hard work. You have used a great deal of imagination to get the right effects. Great work.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

I realize now what I like most about your work. I like your interpretation of the natural world. Excellent. Very inspiring.

Unknown said...

hi arvindh..nice to c ur creation of bark its beautiful vt warm colors and the peeled like texture u really did a hardwork for this piece it turned out beautiful.

steve said...

nature is always a perfect source of inspiration, especially trees. I really love this one!

Sarah .B. Scott said...

Beautiful texture in this work!

Teri said...

This is so incredibly creative!! And beautiful-the colors, the design and just everything.

Anonymous said...

what a wonderful idea and piece looks great.

Digitalgran said...

This is a lovely textured piece with rich warm colours. I love bark and I'm always taking closeup photos of bark. I must put some up on my blog. thanks for sharing the method used.

Judy Scott said...

You described the bark so beautifully and the process, your work is wonderful - I have to create some 'bark now' Judy x

Anonymous said...

I don't think I will ever look at bark the same. this is so beautiful!

Joy Eliz said...

This is fantastic! After I read your interpretation, the gloss-shine reminds me of tree sap.
Love the color combo here...absolutely beautiful!!
Birches are the best!:)

Aku said...

hi arvindh! now i missed the texture and details. your pix is too small but i believe the artwork has nice texture and color combination. please write more arvindh. i enjoyed reading your description. great art!

Caroline said...

This is wonderfully rich and textural. The contrasts are delicious.

Mad Guru said...

Very nice and creative techniques too! A larger picture would be even better!

carla said...

The textures and colors here are beautiful. It's a wonderful celebration of nature. I so wish you'd make your pictures bigger...I'd love to see them in more detail!

Marutham said...

WOW!! Cool.......
The book marks were also great!! Keep it up!!

astrocrazy2005 said...

nice art!!!
this piece of urs reminded of mark rothko's art..
Non intential art always comes from the subconscious..

Balaji S Rajan said...

Arvind,

I am speechless by your artworks. I keep telling my son to read your blogs regularly. Very impressive. I like your way of telling the way you made it. Wonderful work. I am stunned by your every work.

Unknown said...

Lovely

Rose said...

No barks in a long time..

:)))

..Me

Alexiev said...

Guau, very good art... Great blog...
Muy buen trabajo... saludos desde Buenos Aires...
Best regards...

Anonymous said...

I just love birch trees too. You really captured the feel of their unique bark with your beautiful textures and colors.

Anonymous said...

It's a beautiful work of art! Great idea and technique.