This post is about artwork I made when I was even more of a total noob. I think it’s interesting to see how creativity and skill develop overtime and with practice, especially with artistic things like art, music, writing, and more. 

 

This piece is called “Transcendental Vision” It was one of my first pieces where I felt almost euphoric about the creativity I was releasing. The eye represents a peek into another world of imagination. I imagined a world of robotic, living things. This is what happened.

This piece was a milestone for me. Looking back at it now I can see so many imperfections with it, but I recognize it as a necessary point of progression. I used a similar style to create this piece almost a year later.

See how the geometry, line work, and even some of the colors carried over? It amazes me that I made such a leap- I would never have imagined making something like this a year down the road when I was painting the first image in this post.

Here’s another older piece. One of my first watercolor paintings. Read an article about this mixed media piece here.

I had to do a bunch of stuff to make this mixed media piece. It wasn’t easy! Look how I drew my flowers a year later though!

When I was younger I used to draw lots of futuristic cities, design futuristic weapons and vehicles, and draw different kind of aliens and robots. In other words, I was a total nerd, but I can see how that carried on to some of my later work.

Here’s some of my work from early childhood. Unfortunately I havent found any early drawings with the sci fi themes I mentioned. I dont know exactly how old i was but on the back of these pieces it says kindergarten through 3rd grade.

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Here is one of my first watercolor paintings. It’s one of those pieces that reminds me of how far I’ve come in about a year and a half of making art. I painted this piece more loosely than most of my other paintings and drawings in other mediums. I chose to paint morning glories both because of the entheogenic properties of their seeds as well as the peaceful way these flowers make me feel when I see them. The morning glory plant is also very versatile, it’s vines climb just about anywhere making it a symbol of determination and ambition.

 

Materials

• Rice Paper
• Watercolor Pigments
• Crock pot
• Wax (bee wax)
• Water color brush/ brush set
• A brush that you use to apply the wax onto the painting

The Process

Once I had decided I would paint some morning glories, I did a quick sketch of the flowers and then I painted molten wax anywhere I was going to leave the painting white, such as the center of the flowers.I let this dry, then I  got to work by applying watercolors onto the somewhat rectangular piece of rice paper.  I used a small brush for the majority of the painting, especially working on the veins in the leaves.

After I had finished painting, I painted molten wax that I had melted using a crock pot. I used a brush I don’t care about or would consider worthless to apply the molten wax from the crock pot to the painting. Then, I crumpled it up like a worthless piece of trash. Yes, that’s right. A worthless, disposable piece of trash. I do this to apply an interesting texture to the painting. It gives the surface of the piece grooves and bumps. Basically, it adds energy to the piece. It just makes it appear more dynamic, like more stuff is going on.

Making this was interesting, but I doubt I will do it again. It’s a bit of a hassle to get all the materials together, but if you manage to do so it’s worth it to have a unique multimedia piece of art. I wouldn’t put too much time into painting the watercolors or doing your sketch. You don’t know exactly how the piece will look after you cover it with wax until you do it.

The Content: Why morning glories?

I always see the morning glories where I live. They always seem so peaceful and zen. I appreciate their deep and vibrant colors and determined vines. They can climb straight up and their seeds can spread to remote locations relative to their source.

I also picked morning glories primarily because of my interest in their ability to create a stimulus in human consciousness due to a chemical found in the plant (especially its seeds). This chemical is called LSA and it is an entheogen. Less is known about this entheogen compared to more popular ones, making it interesting, novel, and mysterious. There are certainly many interesting accounts of experiences with LSA on the internet, most of which I find fascinating. Just about anything that can have a positive and profound effect on human consciousness interests me.

Conclusion

Okay, so, what’s the point?

This piece was enjoyable to make, but a bit of a hassle. I tried to pick interesting content that was more than just simple, aesthetically pleasing flowers. These plants have an entheogenic property, an ability to affect human consciousness and to allow humans to experience life from a different perspective.This piece is unique in that it has unique ingredients and an interesting use of media.