Painting Process: Unity

I started this painting thinking I wanted to focus on light and shadow using indigo. I was actually painting over a painting of a cherry tree from last year. The red is Alizarian Crimson. I am still experimenting with this colour and I quite like the warm pink that Alizarian Crimson makes.

The image that I was working from is a photograph from last Spring. I chose to paint a large branch in the top right corner of the picture.

I liked the contrast of dark indigo and light pink. The indigo, used in the top right corner, gives me a feeling of a night sky. The sky at the bottom is brighter and gives contrast to the flowers.

As I painted, I realized that the whole composition was overwhelming. I had to erase the tree branch (indigo) and some of the flowers in the top area. By doing so, the focus of the painting turned to the larger flowers and the painting as a whole felt simpler yet stronger. The openness of the blossoms was, I felt, overpowered by the blue sky. To correct this I put a more neutral colour -gray.

After working on the details and the light, here is the final result...

Unity, Oil on Canvas, 30x24, 2009

Lastly, the title "Unity" was inspired by my recent reading of an essay on Buddhism by Ryotaro Shiba which discussed the history of different sects of Buddhism. From reading this, I got the impression (after all Buddhism is impossible to explain) of people uniting with nature=the universe= emptiness= nirvana... Without getting too complicated, this was on my mind while I was painting.

Open Studio and Sale

Ever since we turned the clocks forward, it feels like Spring has really arrived. The evening light is brighter and even though the temperature still goes below zero, it seems warmer because of the light and it gives me more energy to work.

I have made myself into a painting machine over the last couple of months. Consequently my rather small studio is overflowing and it is time to clear it out. This weekend I will host an open studio sale. This is a major sale for me - 48 paintings discounted between 20%-75% off. Translated into figures it looks something like this: a 36x60" painting that was originally priced at $3000 is now $750, there are 12 paintings that are also 75% off.

Please visit my website for futher details.

I hope to see you there.

Sale Date and Location
March 27 (Fri) 6-9pm

March 28 (Sat) 2-6pm

March 29 (Sun) 2-5pm

Shinya Kumazawa Studio

146 30th st., Suite 240,

Etobicoke, ON

416-302-1757

Up North

My family visited our close friends in their cottage near Parry Sound.
It was less than three hours drive north of Toronto, and the place was still covered by snow.
The cottage faces a lake, which was still completely frozen. It has been quite a while since the last time we left the city and visited the country side. We skated, hiked through the forests, heard owls hooting in distance and followed deer trails.

It was perfect because I want to paint a few more snow scenes and I took a lot of photographs that I will share soon. I want to play with the images of light, the sun and the shade. I wanted to start painting the moment we returned.

Entwined

" Entwined"(2009) Oil on Canvas, 36x24"

I am still experimenting with the combination of pink and orange. To match the orange with pink, in this case Alizarin Crimson, I thought I should make orange with Crimson. Result? The orange was dull.
So I highlighted the dull orange with a little bit of brighter orange using Cadmium Red.

An orange maple tree behind a pine tree was one of my favorite themes from 2004. By making sky almost white and the pine almost black, I think I managed to settle this rainbow-coloured painting .

Resolution

I have been trying to paint 10 paintings a month.

It doesn't matter how big or small, I decided to paint 10 paintings.

This is the third month, and the picture is what is happening at my small studio.

What is good about setting up the number of paintings each month is that I try to finish up 10 paintings (even though I often touch up "finished" paintings from the last month.) That will end up with less unfinished paintings.

Well, it is still March, let's see if I have 120 paintings up on my website by the end of the year...