My Green Buddha

Still at the Paint Mojo workshop in Cambodia, I would like to share another funky piece I created yesterday. The focus is on playing around with colours and consistency of various mediums, whilst incorporating in the painting some interesting patterns and symbols observed during this trip. In the photo are few of the many cool stuff I came across whilst traveling to temples. Tree roots from the Tomb Raider Temple, leftover feet from broken statues, flower and circular patterns, the rectangular blocks of the temples and of course Buddha.

I’m still not that good at sketching things exactly as seen but then again I don’t get too concerned about it. My Buddha looks anything but! That said, the whole point is about perception and drawing things as you interpret it. My illustrations consequently tend to have an anime edge to them, even when drawing Buddha! Nevertheless I was happy with the composition and placements of Buddha, the temple and leftover feet so decided it was time to paint!

First I began by sketching a few symbols with some grey oil pastel and then traced my subjects over with some ink. Just added layers and layers of colours by spreading ink and doodling more symbols and flowers, making use of that “opposite pairs” game we have been practicing on: light vs dark, bright vs somber, thin vs thick, linear vs circular and so on. We used the top of the paper as a palette since you can use that space to spread colours and blend it into the painting. And after working on it over and over again, I am now well pleased!

So in this painting, can you see which shapes, patterns and symbols I have used from the above photograph? I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise as my mind just kept flowing, Whenever I got stuck, I stopped and thought about opposites. Another technique I am happy to have learned is creating negative space by drawing a shape and spreading the colours outwards rather than filling it in inwards. It really makes a lot of difference in my work. Can’t wait to put all what I have learned into practice when I’m back home!