Elevation 12.05.2014

''People should talk less and draw more. Personally, I would like to renounce speech altogether and, like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say visually.'' - Johann von Goethe

...

While browsing art tutorials on youtube I found something amazing, something I've never seen before... 

''To Paint is to Love Again'' by Henry Miller

[Spotify] or [Youtube]

I wish I had discovered this much earlier in my life... 

Mr Miller is such an inspiring man.

I'm not really a fan of his artwork but I do love listening to him.

Straight after listening to his book I felt like I could achieve anything. He made me realise how different it felt to be an artist.. Recently I started looking at things from a completely different perspective.. I started analysing trees, the way the leaves reflect sunlight, the way the bark is shaped.. the way the clouds move through the sky.. I keep on walking with my head up, focused on the shape of clouds.. I never used to that before.. only recently, when I actually started to paint properly I keep on finding myself doing all those weird things.. I've looked at those trees so many times before, but I never actually saw what I was looking at, like I was looking without seeing, listening without hearing... and Mr Miller made me realise that it is completely normal... so I'm weird in a normal way...

His book (well, audiobook) is simply amazing.

I shared it with my friend and even they started to think about beginning their painting journey.

Amazing right? Maybe teachers should start playing it in schools?

We would have SO many artists around.

Picasso once said ''All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.''

and I agree with him... I bet most of my friends loved creating art at some point in their lives and then they just left it... It's really sad, but it's true.

Why is the number of artists so insignificant when compared to the number of people in business? Money. Money is the answer. But why? There is money in art too. Money AND pleasure. If you love what you're doing, no matter what it is, then eventually you'll be great at it and then if you want to get money out of it, then all you have to do is show it to people and you'll find someone who loves it. There will always be somebody who loves your style and who will gladly buy something from you.

You may ask ''how would you know? you haven't sold anything yet'', well that's true, but not because I didn't have an opportunity to - people have asked about buying my work, but I just get too attached to my paintings. I mean, when you spend 7 hours painting and refining something over and over again, then there is no way not to get emotionally attached to it, well at least not for me.

So here is the new thing I'm attached to:

''Elevation'' 

(I'll change the photo later - I kinda edited the painting since taking this one hahaha)

Oil painting on a 30" by 20" canvas :)

obviously paints from Winsor and Newton :)

Lots of Love,

Marlena

Misty Eyes - 21.04.2014

Hi,

Few days ago I was looking at mysterious paintings and pictures, but unfortunately I realised that there aren't as many as I was hoping to find. So after a couple of hours of searching I decided to make my own painting!

Obviously I had a weird idea... I decided to paint a canvas black and then add light using a sock and white paint... And surprisingly it worked! The lights turned out looking very natural and even some random tree shapes and bushes to the painting :D (I had refine them later, but the shapes were already there waiting for me to work with them).

After that, I added some basis trees and then some more trees.. Because trees need their tree friends too.. Even the creepy trees:)

Originally I was planning to add some colour to it, like some lilac flowers for example, but then I changed my mind and decided to make it a black and white painting.. 

It is a bit strange and a bit creepy.. But that was the whole point of it :)

So without further ado, here are the stages of the painting and the final outcome:

                           

Final:                                                                   

              Stage 1:                                  

              Stage 2:      

This is an acrylic painting done entirely using Mars black (Galeria) and Titanium white (Finity range), both from Winsor and Newton :)

Everyone I've spoken to really likes this painting so I decided to make a series in this theme :)

It will be called "Mars black" 
(yup, creative name as always :')

This particular painting is called "Misty Eyes".

Thank you for reading :)


Lots of Love,
Marlena 

Zakopane 21.02.2014

Hi :)
I was supposed to post every Saturday but I was really busy yesterday... 

This painting is dedicated to the lovely Mucha family. Those amazing people showed us (people from my choir) what heaven looks like.. Dziękuję. 

It's a painting based on a photo I took in Zakopane while I was there with my choir earlier this year.

Zakopane is a town in south Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. zakopane is a center of Górale culture and is known informally as "the winter capital of Poland". It's a popular destination for mountaineering, skiing and tourism. Definitely worth visiting! They also have awesome "oscypki" there!

And the views! The views are amazing! I've only seen the place in winter but this year I'll see it in summer - the Mucha family is getting bigger and I'm invited to the wedding :)

 

It's an oil painting, painted with Winton Oil Paints by Winsor and Newton :)

Lots of Love,

Marlena