inspiration Archives - Page 7 of 17

June 20, 2019March 6, 2023

Beyond restrictions of reality

Seasonal reality

Spring season is giving space to summer. We bathe ourselves in light. We walk through spring and summer days very aware of nature’s beauty. This is the most inspiring time of the year, at least for me. It is not only because the nature is so ready to bless us with so much visual abundance, but also because the energy is so vivid and at its highest point: the energy of growth and fulfillment. Every view is framed by grapevines and has flowers scattered over it.

The magic energy

We should capture some of this sparkling energy and preserve it for cool fall and winter nights. I do capture such energy in my art. I love including floral elements in my paintings, whether tiny or large. I believe we suffer from too materialistic life style and we are too obsessed with profits and material gains. That leads to imbalance. Mental side and soul should be loved at least as much as the physical body which gets all attention.

Feeding our soul

Art feeds our soul. You enter an art studio and you will be right away embraced by something uplifting and mysterious. Painting consists of paints, lines, shapes and light rays. How could they possibly take one to another world? They can since we implement ideas, thoughts, concepts and energy along with visible things in a painting. Art crosses the limits of visible and invisible and easily passes the restrictions of reality. I think that makes pursuing art such a worthy experience.

Is painting ever finished?

It is great to look at a finished artwork. I dare to say that the process of creation surpasses the savoring art by the viewer. To be able to create feels like an endless journey to satisfaction. Is a painting ever finished, though? The truth is that sometimes I continue mentally working on some painting even after it has been sold. These ideas will find reflection in my next paintings.

Spring landscape, road and blooming trees

Moving to my new art studio

As I am packing up my studio again, I was just snapping a few pictures of the recent and not that recent paintings. I do sometimes forget how much art I have created and it is nice to refresh my memory here and there. Paintings are sold over time, but what remains is the reality of being able to create beauty.

Enjoy and visit

My new studio will have more space, indoors and outdoors on 2 levels. It will be a great place to create new art and to enjoy the previous paintings. Thankfully, it is a very close move, 7 minutes by foot and 5 minutes by car. Enjoy the images of paintings and visit my new studio! If you are somewhere not that far from Ajax, Ontario, stop by! It is summer, travelling is easy and fun.

Summer art classes: sign up here

Would you like a private art lesson? Here is the link to apply: private art lessons

Shop at art Studio Shop original art

Art prints and artistic things:

April 29, 2019March 6, 2023

Spring paintings in acrylic

Spring paintings feel like a good choice when nature awakes

When else if not now to engage in creation of spring paintings? One can tell how much I love spring by just having a look at what I have painted recently: spring flowers, spring scenery and spring landscapes. I think I feel seasonal changes on a mental level very strongly. I cannot imagine I would be painting snow right now. Still life in that regard is the most neutral subject, but I felt I needed something more impressive.

My personalized realism

Most people believe I paint reality, but I do not. I use quite frequently real things, like I used real daffodils for the front part this time; however, I always beautify the reality and make any subject my personal reality. That means I give the subject my colors which I love at that moment, enhance the layout, and add extra contrasts or values, just to make everything more of what I experience at that moment.

Nature does not always cooperate

The truth is the spring has been slow again in Ontario. We even had very winter-like weather a week ago. Therefore, to facilitate the feeling of blooming and warmth, I just paint it. I decided to mostly post one image at a time whenever possible. Most people never read posts, so, they only have a glance at the featured image and move on. That is why most paintings, advice and images which are in the article go unnoticed.

Taking pictures

Taking pictures with iphone is very difficult. The extreme contrast is fine for any regular pictures, but not art. My solution is taking pictures with backgrounds, extra items, paints, brushes and similar. That works for the most part, but the painting area one works on, can be very messy sometimes. I mean, there are paint tubes, dirty paper towels, plates with leftover paint, brushes, sponges, jars with dirty water and all kinds of other things. Therefore, some pictures look messy by accidentally displaying some item which completely doesn’t fit the view.

New spring painting, acrylic by Inese Poga

Just imagine how it looks on my wall

My pictures still display more contrast than they should. Everything is usually well-balanced in my actual painting. I work in layers and for many hours in order to achieve the color balance. As you know, acrylic paints, at least the ones which are available in Canada, become much darker as they dry. One has to calculate that in when applying paint. It can happen so that sometimes white or yellow paint is very weak, and fixing the value imbalance requires extra work.

Available for purchase

Any of paintings are available from my studio. Paintings which are displayed in this post are 16 x 20 inches or 41 cm x 51 cm. I have to mention that because pictures look all the same on the internet. Anyway, enjoy the Daffodil barn and spring paintings! Daffodil barn got lots of great comments on Facebook and Fine Art America site this time, in particular, in acrylic artists’ groups. Please, see links to other posts and FAA sales site.

Previous post about recent acrylic paintings: New acrylic paintings

Art collections by Inese Poga

April 22, 2019June 29, 2022

Enjoying spring nature and presence of painting subject

Nostalgia, acrylic painting by Inese Poga

Spending time with spring nature

Spring is already here. Art studio is a place which is always in bloom. Art studio has all seasons at once, and spring is presented to a high degree. Spring also means, one can take a canvas or sheet of paper and head out to be closer to the big awakening. Spring nature is an excellent subject! How much time do we really spend in nature and with it? Only with nature, without checking your phone or texting, or listening to music instead of bird songs? The research finds that it is a very insignificant amount of time compared to what we spend in a car and indoors. So, head out!

Outdoor drawing and painting

Outdoor drawing allows not only being close to the nature, but also experiencing a great presence of our subject. Many people use plants, flowers, leaves, blooms, trees, and other live natural subjects in their art. Being able to create a good reference drawing comes from observation. Outdoors is the best place to observe all growing and blossoming things and to understand how they change along with seasons.

Being close to the painting subject

Outdoor painting teaches us how to use fewer art supplies, but use them more effectively. Being in a close distance to our painting subject and having a chance to observe it is an extreme bonus. All tracing and photo editing software can never compare with direct observation. It is because of the presence. Any painting you do using real things and looking at the real painting subject will look more convincing. We can definitely feel the presence of painting subject or lack of it in the finalized art.

Direct observation and drawing

I feel that my duty is to teach other people enjoying things which are not costly, but rather a true source of happiness, pleasure and satisfaction. It would be tough going through life without art and beauty.

Daily drawing practice

We can keep our brain flexible and our cognitive function in great condition by simply drawing and sketching every single day. Just like you go to the gym, you need to engage your brain to its capacity with pleasurable things like art even when out of work and school. Observational drawing and painting is number one brain booster.

The best medication for mental issues

Drawing and painting are the best medication for any trouble, but especially mental issues, such as depression, grief, persistent, obtrusive thoughts and anxiety. We shouldn’t ignore the importance of new and challenging activities as brain fitness exercise. While one paints, they also completely forget about things they are addicted to: food, snacks, alcohol, drugs, smoking and devices, as well as phone. This gives us the much-deserved break from mind pollution.

The immediate result of painting is not the ultimate goal

It is often assumed that the only goal of drawing and painting should be the immediate result. We should not forget that here is so much to gain from the process. If you stop being concerned about the result, you will find out how rewarding the process is. Everybody achieves good results if they practice and keep painting, but certainly the process of creation is the one that deserves to be finally acknowledged and considered the main part of creativity. Along with feeling relaxed, trouble-free and happy, you will also create art that becomes better and better over time.

Picture taking

I tried to take pictures side by side, just to keep colors more relevant. My phone camera has too much contrast and my pictures come out extra bright. They have strong dark contrast which is not present in art. The real paintings are well-balanced. That is a good reason to make a trip to my art studio.

It’s not only color which is not true on photos, it’s also contrast, but especially the size. Size makes a big difference, but it is impossible to see that on the internet. Everything from very large to very small art will seem to be the same size.

Acrylic painting, landscape, enjoying spring, — Spring, barn Nostalgia series, 24 x 20 inches, or 61 x 51 cm, acrylic on canvas

Anyway, enjoy the new art, and you are welcome to attend my popular art classes.

My art products and prints of paintings on Fine Art America:

April 8, 2019April 25, 2023

Personalized creativity

Personalized creativity eventually becomes our style. Creating is learning, and learning means living more intense and enjoying something new every day, our personal way.

We create us

Any creation involves saying something about us. That’s how we are telling others what our point of view is. True creativity is never copying and reproducing, but taking an idea which lives in our imagination or was just born in our mind and bringing it to life.

Reproducing versus creating

I regret seeing how plenty of art instruction is meant to teach not principles, techniques and understanding, but to reproduce a popular concept or successful image which everybody is painting or drawing. We have numerous back-lit landscapes, starry nights, tree projections in the sky, human eyes and lips. A painting subject which is already so much worn down.

Personalized creativity

Creativity is great not because we can do things that other artists have done, but because we can create everything exactly as we want, as we have intended and imagined, and it becomes our personalized creativity.

If you can draw, you can draw anything.

We can use any subject and make it our own.

If you can paint, you can paint anything.

We can use any color and make it the most important color for us or the viewer.

We have endless opportunities to express ourselves.

Learning is an ongoing activity, and it’s erroneous to assume somebody knows everything about everything. Experiment is the best teacher of all: how do we know if we never try?

The helpful mistakes

Mistakes and errors are an essential part of the learning process. It’s silly to be afraid of mistakes and do nothing. Perfectionism most likely lives inside many minds, however, but that doesn’t mean anything less than perfect has no value.

The circle of knowledge

Imagine that everything you know is within a circle. As you grow older and become smarter, the circle grows and widens, too. However, the interesting thing is that the more we know, the longer becomes the line that borders the unknown space which surrounds the circle which contains our knowledge. That’s why we just keep finding out things that we were not aware of. That is also the reason for asking more questions and finding more answers.

Creative exploration

Exploration with pencil, brush and color goes a long way. There is no end to it. The more we have learnt, the more we become aware of things we still have no idea about. It makes sense to make your style very personal from the very beginning. You do not want to be the second if you can be the first one. Therefore, copying art is not a good practice. You would not copy somebody else’s poem or song? Would you? The same is true about art.

Some of my recent watercolor paintings:

Art blog articles versus photo blogs

I have been on and off from blogging due to personal matters, but, hopefully, I will manage to post something more during the upcoming months. Painting takes much longer than to write an article, a short poem or to snap a photo. I sometimes spend months on a single painting. I could post progress images, but when I have the momentum, I do not want to interrupt it. Sketches and drawings might take just a few hours. However, such photos need to be edited and adjusted to be visible.

Slow spring

Spring is slow in Southern Ontario, but the first blooms are already in buds. and I saw a few crocuses showing their lovely colors outside. Their colors were bright and intense. Spring rewards us with intense colors and fresh air. There is always 1 hour or a bit more to spend with beauty and colors. It isn’t even that hard to find that hour.

Part of my art for sale: Available paintings

My artistic products on Fine Art America, and you can view them in 3 D, rotate and turn upside down, etc.:

Decorate with beautiful art for spring season!

February 10, 2019March 6, 2023

Draw and paint your reality

Draw and paint your reality and keep memory in good shape

Why should you start drawing and painting if you are not and do not intend to be an artist? Why should your kid draw instead of scrolling through screens?

The worst part of nowadays trends is trying to achieve a wonderful result without any efforts, experience and work. When it comes to art classes, that takes away from any benefits drawing and painting provides you with.

I have listed benefits of participating in art class many times before. Some:

Benefits of participating in art classes

I have also mentioned the effects of drawing and painting on our memory many times:

Drawing and painting for brain health

It is not that important actually what you draw or paint, but how you use the medium of your choice or art supplies you have. It is also very important for people who are not and do not intend to be artists, to pick up a pencil and start drawing. Do it for fun, for pleasure, do it without regard to results and just to keep your brain flexible, young and memory strong.

Realistic painting of Bell peppers on white background

How to turn simple things into awesome subject of painting

While trying to become familiar with drawing or painting, you will progress faster and create more impressive drawings and paintings if you use real things, not photos. When artists have experience and know what they are doing and what they are trying to achieve, they can use also photos because they will understand how to handle them.

Draw what you see

We can draw and paint anything. It does not have to be an extraordinary setup of extraordinary things. Anything you have on the table or in fridge is fine. Anything you see through the window is fine. Anything visible in the backyard is fine, too. Try to create abstract outlines at first and then refine every area more. Don’t worry about the result; allow yourself the freedom to be a creator. Who cares what you have drawn? The main thing is engaging our brain, eyes, mind and hand.

Photo versus reality

If your initial learning subject is already flat and two-dimensional, you will have hard times to ever adjust to drawing or painting from reality. It is even worse to trace outlines from a photo because you are missing the most crucial part of drawing and painting process which is to understand why you place things where you place them and why you use the specific artistic tools such as contrasts, shadows, overlapping, specific colors, sizes and shapes on certain areas.

Brain loves drawing and painting

Art is a very logical thing; and decisions we make are the result of communication between many brain areas which are activated while we perform some specific task. Unlike any other cognition and memory related activity, drawing process involves many areas of the brain because drawing is a multi-sensory activity and in order to create we use many brain regions:

to see and understand our painting subject;

to process its shape, outline, size and spatial relationship with anything else;

to send the signal to our hand with brush or pencil;

to recreate visual images with line, color, form, value, contrast and shadow on a paper or canvas;

to give our subject multi-dimensional look and volume on a flat paper or canvas;

to distinct between abstracted areas and definite details;

to make certain focal points stand out or point out the main area of interest.

Decision-making and personal know-how

That is a lot of decision-making! Therefore, using our brain to its full capacity more and more often, we become successful with capturing our idea or visually perceived subject and turning work on it into personal artistic experience, into our personal know-how.

Composition and values

Composition and values, as well as shapes and shadows are things we should figure out while we are creating a sketch or value drawing for a painting. That is why reality is more helpful than we think. Photo has limitations, and you will have to pretty much stick with it while reality allows for endless interpretation and adjustment.

Creation takes origin in us and our own brain

That is also my biggest argument against the idea of believing that watching how somebody else paints results in better drawing or painting for you. You simply do not know all the things the artist who demonstrates painting or drawing is considering. Artists, who demonstrate their creative process, have made countless decisions before they started to apply paint. They keep making new decisions every split second, and most often, they have also practiced on this particular piece many times.

Draw and paint and become more efficient with any mental task

If you already do not spend some calming, soothing and relaxing time with pencil or brush, please, consider it. You do not need to be an artist to start drawing or painting. However, most people need either mental or physical healing, and we definitely need to maintain our memory in a good shape. These are benefits we can count on along with creating something beautiful.

Sign up for art classes: Registration for art classes

P.S. I had already written this post by Friday morning, and my mom had a stroke on Friday afternoon. See lifeschool blog for more info on that: Bad news comes always at wrong time

My mom was better today. She recognized me and was able to recall my name.

Category: inspiration

Beyond restrictions of reality

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Spring paintings in acrylic

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Enjoying spring nature and presence of painting subject

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Personalized creativity

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Draw and paint your reality

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