Abstract art ~What it is, Where does it come from? Why do I do it?

Abstract art is art that does not try to represent a specific subject matter or something that is recognizable in reality.  Abstract art plays on the emotions of the artist completely by using shapes, colors and textures.  Abstract art is very spontaneous in nature.

When I paint abstract art I do my best to start with at least three different colors.  These colors can be complimentary or opposite on the color wheel.  This depends on what I want to have the viewer feel and experience .  Do I want bright colors that are so opposite that they vibrate when you see them? Such as green and purple, yellow and blue.  Or do I want colors that harmonize when you look at them causing your eyes to move in a soothing pattern across the canvas?  There is no wrong or right way to paint abstract art because there is no wrong or right way to feel while painting it. 

~Emotions

Emotions  are the key ingredient for abstract art.  What is the artist feeling?  Is he feeling angry, sad, in love, out of love, inspired, aggressive?  Mood can be greatly effected on the habituates a artists takes and doesn't take.  Artists have had a long reputation for using outside stimuli in the form or alcohol, weed, pills etc.  I do not agree with this and I do not disagree with it.  I am also not saying every artist uses.  But I will say that a lot of great art has been inspired and created under the influence and sober.  So what does this mean?  Emotions are key in creating art, sad or happy, drunk or sober whatever state the artist is in is going to influence the outcome of the piece.

~When to stop, Less is more

When I paint abstract art , I feel as though I want to put subject matter on it, a flower, bird, person, building, etc.  I see a beautiful background and I want to put something that defines an image.  Most of my art I combine what I am feeling with what I see or am inspired by.  However I feel the real challenge in producing a great abstract piece is knowing when to stop, when to say "enough".  Abstract art can be as simple as a black and white painting and  have a few powerful brush strokes.  It can be minimal in construction and design.  The artist is saying more with less words, less strokes can say more by utilizing the empty space that now just exists.

~Less Is More, but some times More is better

When I am painting abstract art I try to challenge myself in using less.  Meaning how can I make a powerful piece of art by utilizing the empty space that is on the canvas?  Say more by saying nothing, paint more by using the paint to excentuate the emptiness giving it form.  But the opposite exists as well.  How many layers can I use? I ask myself.  In my opinion layers of paint mean layers of emotion.  So when I want to convey more, I ask "how many layers can I have?"  "How many layers can I build?"  "How much more color and texture can there be?"  I build layers much like  a sculptor would take away to expose the hidden form  but with layers I add to define dimensions, texture, shape. This conveys emotion.

~Abstract Art where does it come from?

All my pieces of art combine a aspect of the undefinable, the unknown the abstract.  I  combine my pop art, surrealism, modern art and abstract art together to form my individual style.  Abstract art is fun. It allows me to explore the subterranean levers of my psyche.  As I dump colors, work with brush strokes, thick gobs of overlaying paint, my mind travels.  It travels to a place that can be only explained through the finished product. This allows me to release hidden layers of myself that I can not reach without engaging in the artistic  action of painting.  Abstract art is the reflection of the inner mind.


I like to combine my abstract art with my pop art, stencil art, mural art, buddha art.  Major styles of art have already been defined. I do my best to merge styles together to form something that has been influenced by a certain genre but make it my own by mixing, destroying, and rebuilding.

Abstract art, What it is, Where does it come From and Why do I do it?

Abstract art

~What is it, Where does it come from and Why do I do it?

Abstract art is art that does not try to represent a specific subject matter or something that is recognizable in reality.  Abstract art plays on the emotions of the artist completely by using shapes, colors and textures.  Abstract art is very spontaneous in nature.

When I paint abstract art I do my best to start with at least three different colors.  These colors can be complimentary or opposite on the color wheel.  This depends on what I want to have the viewer feel and experience .  Do I want bright colors that are so opposite that they vibrate when you see them? Such as green and purple, yellow and blue.  Or do I want colors that harmonize when you look at them causing your eyes to move in a soothing pattern across the canvas?  There is no wrong or right way to paint abstract art because there is no wrong or right way to feel while painting it. 

~Emotions

Emotions  are the key ingredient for abstract art.  What is the artist feeling?  Is he feeling angry, sad, in love, out of love, inspired, aggressive?  Mood can be greatly effected on the habituates a artists takes and doesn't take.  Artists have had a long reputation for using outside stimuli in the form or alcohol, weed, pills etc.  I do not agree with this and I do not disagree with it.  I am also not saying every artist uses.  But I will say that a lot of great art has been inspired and created under the influence and sober.  So what does this mean?  Emotions are key in creating art, sad or happy, drunk or sober whatever state the artist is in is going to influence the outcome of the piece.

~When to stop, Less is more

When I paint abstract art , I feel as though I want to put subject matter on it, a flower, bird, person, building, etc.  I see a beautiful background and I want to put something that defines an image.  Most of my art I combine what I am feeling with what I see or am inspired by.  However I feel the real challenge in producing a great abstract piece is knowing when to stop, when to say "enough".  Abstract art can be as simple as a black and white painting and  have a few powerful brush strokes.  It can be minimal in construction and design.  The artist is saying more with less words, less strokes can say more by utilizing the empty space that now just exists.  When using less is more in abstract art it starts to become something else, modern wall art.

~Less Is More, but some times More is better

When I am painting abstract art I try to challenge myself in using less.  Meaning how can I make a powerful piece of art by utilizing the empty space that is on the canvas?  Say more by saying nothing, paint more by using the paint to excentuate the emptiness giving it form.  But the opposite exists as well.  How many layers can I use? I ask myself.  In my opinion layers of paint mean layers of emotion.  So when I want to convey more, I ask "how many layers can I have?"  "How many layers can I build?"  "How much more color and texture can there be?"  I build layers much like  a sculptor would take away to expose the hidden form  but with layers I add to define dimensions, texture, shape. This conveys emotion.

~Abstract Art where does it come from?

All my pieces of art combine a aspect of the undefinable, the unknown the abstract.  I  combine my pop art, surrealism, modern art and abstract art together to form my individual style.  Abstract art is fun. It allows me to explore the subterranean levers of my psyche.  As I dump colors, work with brush strokes, thick gobs of overlaying paint, my mind travels.  It travels to a place that can be only explained through the finished product. This allows me to release hidden layers of myself that I can not reach without engaging in the artistic  action of painting.  Abstract art is the reflection of the inner mind.

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~Stencil ART, Everything That it is To me~

~Stencil Art Has been around for 1000s of years

The earliest examples of stenciling are found in Paleolithic cave paintings dating from as early as 30,000 BC to 9,000 BC. Some of the first stencils were cut from leaves. The Fiji Island natives traditionally used bamboo and banana leaves to make their stencils. They cut holes in the leaves and forced vegetable dyes through the leaf openings onto their bark cloth or "Tapa". The Eskimos of Baffin Island are said to have used dried sealskin but unfortunately nothing remains of these early stencils as they were made from perishable materials.  Stenciling has been around for ages, it is a amazing skill and talent that a lot of people need to learn to respect.

~Stenciling is a Art and a Skill~

I have heard people say when looking at a stenciled piece of art work "oh it's just a stencil".  A lot of the time this person has never even tried making a stencil and has no idea the skill that it takes to make a effective design using a stencil.  Now yes, like all art there is bad stencils and great stencils but in any regard stenciling is a art and a skill.  When I make a stencil I take a image, lets say of a face.  I draw this image out on regular paper.  I draw the shadows of the the image because this is what is going to make the image after it has been cut.  You have to draw the image in a way that you are defining the image by using the shadows and simple line work to the best of your ability.  You also have to make sure you draw it in a way that will allow all the pieces to stay intact so you won't have chucks of your design falling out when you cut it.  After I draw it I take my drawing and I have it laminated at kinkos or office max.  I do this because it will help preserve the life of the stencil and the laminate gives a great stiff surface that's flat when you spray it. Once laminated you have to cut it out with a xacto blade.  This is why it is very important to make sure your elements of your design is going to stay intact.  Now that you have a stencil cut, go and try it out.  Have fun!

~The Reason Why I Laminate My Stencils~

When I make a stencil I like to laminate it.  I laminate it for a few reasons.  

1. It helps preserver the life of the stencil.  I have stencils that I have used 100s of times and they are still giving me clean lines and great art.

2. The laminate helps keep the stencil stiff and flat.  The more stiff and more flat the stencil the cleaner the image is going to come out after you stencil it.

3. After using the stencil 100s of times you can put the stencil in the refrigerator over night.  When you pull it out you can crack off the layers of paint and return the stencil almost back to it's original life. Thats if the layers of paint are spray paint.

4. If the stencil is laminated then you can make bleach stencils on shirts.  Get dark colored shirts or any fabric for that matter.  Go outside on a sunny day, fill a spray bottle up with 50% bleach 50% water.  Lay the stencil down on the shirt as long as it's flat.  Spray the the bleach.  Allow to dry.  Remove stencil, if everything worked out you should have a new t-shirt with your own design on it.

~Guerilla Arts

Stencil art is a very powerful medium.  It is powerful because once you have the stencil cut you can make a painting in a matter or minutes.  As a Guerilla artist taking your art to the street is a powerful way to get your art seen and noticed.  Using strong stenciled imagery you can get your logo, message, image and stye up on city walls in a very fast way.  Doing stencils on city walls is as illegal as graffiti.  To be a artist is to be a rebel by nature. Art is a personal expression and if it looks good, then it looks good.  My motto is: no schools, private homes, churches, private business, existing murals and city artwork but corporate advertising, freeway structures, highways, traffic signs are all free game.  Like I said it is illegal so keep this in mind if you're thinking of becoming a Guerilla artist.   It is also a way for artists to claim back public domain and promote freedom of expression.

~When I Realized I need to make Stencils~

I realized I needed to make stencils at my first Phoenix Art walk.  It was  my friend and I.  It was about four years ago, we were set up on the side of the street.  Back before the politics of the city got involved vendors could set up anywhere pretty much.  My friend had stencils, small elemental designs of hawks, butterflies, sea creatures placed on a elemental background. He was selling them like crazy, $20, $30 each.  I had a small set up with my icons, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and Audrey Hepburn to name a few.  I was selling zero.  

I was out of the range of the market of the buyers there.  What should I do I thought?  Earlier that week I had found three pallets of 8 in x 11inch scrap pieces of wood near a dumpster behind a industrial building.  I talked to the owner and he let me have them.  I came home after first friday thinking and  starring at all the wood scraps.  Finally it came to me.  I love painting icons, but I need to make them more affordable to the buyers on the street.  So I decided to make stencils of my favorite icons and use the the scraps of wood to paint them on!  It was a success.  I originally had 2000 pieces of scrap wood. Since then I have painted and sold pretty much all of the original 2000 set by using stencils on them.  After the scraps of wood were gone I would go to Home Depot and buy plywood and cut it down to size and then nail a small backing on the back.  I have further refined the process.  Now I take wood door skin, cut it down to size, make 1 inch siding/framing around the door skin so it is a 1 inch shallow box.  I spray my stencils on those now.  I have sold thousands of them from $20-$40 price range all from that first idea of stenciling.

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Making a Living as a Multi-talented Artists.

I find most artists wether your a painter, dancer, musician or any other creative medium also have a secondary medium that they explore in.  It is challenging already to take a personal talent and make it work for you in a financial way.  A lot of artists are talented in their field but lack the know how to get the ball rolling.  So if you are an artist that enjoys a couple different ways to express your art, how do you choose which one to take to a professional level?  A level in which you can  make a living.  These are the questions that I had to ask myself when I decided to leave the "work for someone else world" and just wanted to do art. There is no right way.  The beauty of being a true artist is paving a personal path through trial and error.  

I will explain how I developed my painting skills to start to bring in income. Also how I decided out of the talents that I possess guitar, martial arts, dance and painting how I chose what one to develop into a profession.  I will also explain briefly my next mission and that is: how do I combine my mediums of artistic expression to form a supper "unit".

After graduating from the art institute of Phoenix, I got a job working at Air Photo USA.  This was a map making company that had small cessna  airplanes that would take arial photo images.   I worked in the quality control department.  My job was to scan whole maps in photoshop and look for abnormalities.  Such as specks, hairs, dust that the scanner picked up, bad color and wavy lines or over lapping images.  Once I found them I would correct them in photoshop.  I did this for little over 2 years. Sitting in front of a computer all day was mind numbing, I almost went nuts!  I was let go with a small severance package.  

I had some money saved and with the severance package that I received, I thought, "Now what?".  I was no longer doing any illustration and/or painting because I felt I was burnt out from the Art Institute of Phoenix. I was concentrating heavily on guitar and martial arts training.  I had been playing guitar for several years by now and would practice at least two hours a day.  I got pretty efficient in it.  I wanted to produce and make music.  But was I ready to?? NO, way.  I knew this and to this day I am just now getting ready to really get some things recorded 6 years later. We are also  our own worst critics. 

After leaving Air Photo USA, I had a bit of an emotional episode involving a relationship that went Splat!  I figured it was time to pack my bags and move back to San Francisco my hometown and live with my older brother. I thought I needed to figure out what it was I want to do with my life before my small amount of saving was gone.  

I started meditating and asking myself, "What is it that I want out of Life?" I never focused on what I did not want in my Life.  Every self reflective question/statement I asked myself was stated something like this:

"I want to work for myself"  

"How do I work for myself?"  

"What do I have right now?  

"What talent that I have will and can be utilized to put money in my pocket and food in my mouth?"

"What talent that I possess is going to make me happy doing it all the time?"

I looked at the guitar player in me.  I had been playing for a few years and although I had become fluent playing the instrument, I had no real experience writing songs and/or singing. Not to mention, I was shy and really had not developed confidence in my singing ability. So, the prospects of getting booked for any gigs soon didn't look too promising. 

Okay what's Next?

Then I looked at the dancer/martial artist talent in me.  I have been doing martial arts almost all of my life on and off with different intentions and intensities. Although, I consider myself above a normal standard for martial arts ability, I knew if I wanted to open my own school I would have to find a new teacher.  I would have to start with a new system and I would have to start competitions and fights to gain experience and establish a following.  That takes time and money.  I needed money Now!  Plus, after evaluating the reasons why I train, doing cage matches and becoming a MMA fighter didn't seem to appealing.  I am not a fighter.  I don't train martial arts to win fights.  I train so I know how to survive in Life and keep myself disciplined. I am into survival. I still train and I can see myself teaching one day.  I would teach purely to give back to the community and not try to make a living from it.  As for dancing, I had just picked up free style dance, house, modern and brake-dance. I had no formal training.  It was basically the same story as my martial arts history.

I asked myself, "What do I have left?  Who Am I and what is my strongest talent?"  I then asked myself, "What do I feel the most comfortable and confident doing?  What have I been doing the longest?  ART, Painting! Derr.  I knew that I could start selling my art work if I started painting again.  I had not picked up a brush in years.  But, I knew it was inside of me and not that hard to find.  When I look back at my earliest memories, painting and being creative always stands out as one of my fondest talents.

I am what I am today and I am here today because that was the beginning process.

  

Whatever your talent is, pick the one that you feel is the most powerful.  Pick the one that is the most marketable.  Also, pick the one that brings you the most freedom in mind and spirit because it is the most natural to you.  Once you have found that, the next step is to make a game plan.  Little steps, fight and win little battles because it is those that make up the entire picture. I will share with you my first game plan so you can get the idea.

I wanted to sell my work.  But I didn't have a piece of work to sell, not one painting and I had not painted in years.  I had to get the juices going.  I sat down and meditated... Bingo, this is what needed to be done.  I went to the art store and bought a portfolio book with empty sleeves.  I also bought pens and markers.  I wasn't ready for the brush yet.  But I told myself that I am going to fill up this whole book with illustrations and then take the best ones and make paintings out of them.  So I began.  It was one of the most memorable times in my life. I drew all day filling this book up and getting myself inspired.  I started to surround myself with like minded people.  I also rented movies and read books on my favorite artist to find out their process.  The universe I believe works in mysterious ways.  Before I knew it an opportunity found me.  

I came back to Arizona from San Francisco for Thanksgiving and met a friend of mine from Arizona who runs a local chain of Italian restaurants. He gave art shows out of the restaurants every so often.  He and a couple investors had  a company called Dreamz Art.  This company would give artists' shows, represent them and make giclees prints of their work.  He ask me to come up with a series.  When the book was done  come up with at least 6 new paintings from the book.  Come back to Arizona and lets have your first art show.  Great, everything was falling into place.  

I moved back to Arizona and had a successful art showing. I  have been painting full time ever since, pop art, modern wall art, abstract art, surrealism.  Once I got that initial push, I was able to support myself with my artwork. I find that opportunities constantly are coming my way.  I appreciate all the opportunities that continue to come my way even though I realize we all  have good days, good months but also have down days and bad months. The way I stay mentally positive is to do my best to stay productive!  When I get stuck in life, I ask myself, "What can I do right now, in this moment that can help me go forward?"  Be mindful of your time and how you spend it, because the smallest effort could start a chain of events that could link you to a huge success. Remember this, any productive action is a move in the right direction.  No action is a move in no direction.  Regardless how small, it is all part of the larger goal!  I am constantly striving for the next level because I know if I keep this same formula success will always come.

Have a realistic plan.  A realistic plan will start with a few small goals that you know you can accomplish within a reasonable amount of time.  I like to look at my greater goal, then I work myself backward on a piece of paper writing out the steps on how to get there.  If you try to conquer your large goal first without breaking it down into smaller units it probably won't work. It will fall apart at the seams because it has no real foundation.

So now that I am selling my artwork on a consistent basis how do I incorporate painting with my guitar playing?  My goal is to play the guitar at gigs and display my art with it.  I am using the same formula that I did with my artwork..  I am coming up with some songs, practicing them and doing my best to come up with a 45 min set.  Once I have my set finished,  I need to put together a small business proposal that I can take and present to local venues and show them what I have.  I think it would be a great idea, play my music and have a vending booth to sell my art. 

If you're a multi talented artist and are having a hard time starting out and picking which one to pursue, I hope reading my process has helped a little.  You might even have two talents that are equal.  I have a few friends like this.  They dance professionally and play in a band, they DJ at clubs and show their artwork.  Being a full time artist you have to survive and to do that you have to have a product/talent that you can sell to the public.  I know now I can go to pretty much any major city in the world and if I have the right supplies to paint, I can feed myself, I can survive.  I feel the next article I will write will be:  Full time artists, more then surviving, it's about thriving and becoming very successful.

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