Pinwheel Painting
9 Dec 2011
This project was inspired, in every way, by Elise Blaha, who posted her pinwheel painting several months ago. I love love love her blog: she writes with such beauty and honesty, and her amazing creativity always knocks my socks off. It was this post on her blog that actually sent me off to the art store, birthday money in hand, to buy paint, canvases, and an easel. I hadn’t painted in any real sense since high school, and even then not on canvas. But Elise’s post made me feel like I could do it, and I did! It was thrilling to hold a paintbrush in my hand again.
I used a 16 x 20 canvas and marked the center with a pencil. Then I used painter’s tape to make triangles fanning out from the center, one at a time.
Once the paint dried, it was no problem to lay the painter’s tape over it to make new triangles–it didn’t pull the paint up.
Because I was just doing one triangle at a time, it took me a few weeks to finish this painting, but it was kind of a beautiful process. I loved watching it take shape, and often five minutes was all I could spare in the mad dissertation revising marathon. I didn’t plan out the color scheme at all, but just mixed my paints until I had what I was looking for. If a triangle turned out to be too dark or too light or I just didn’t like it, I painted over it. This created some neat little shadow lines in a few places. 😉
I haven’t hung it yet, but I think I know just the place for it. I love bright colors so much that this little painting feels very joyful to me, and I want it out in a prominent place where it will brighten my spirit every day.
Dec 11, 2011 @ 09:07:18
Beautiful painting. I love the colors and of course, I love the straight lines. My kind of painting.
Dec 11, 2011 @ 22:19:09
Thank you, Daddy! I thought of you when I was painting it. Love you!
Color Quilt | Krug the Thinker
Dec 14, 2011 @ 05:20:24
[…] I was working on my pinwheel painting, I ended up with some leftovers. Because I was mixing my paints and playing with them until I got […]
Circle Painting | Krug the Thinker
Sep 17, 2012 @ 03:05:42
[…] think I will hang this one next to my pinwheel painting, to further add to the color explosion in the living room. You can never have too much color, or at […]
Feb 04, 2013 @ 09:44:15
Bloggers like you & Elise make someone like me feel so inadequate & envious!
I’m wondering where in Southern Cal blogger Elise lives. But it appears to be near the ocean.
Feb 04, 2013 @ 22:22:04
No, you should never feel inadequate or envious! You are awesome! Elise lives in Oxnard right now, but they are moving to San Diego soon. So they will still be close to the ocean!
Square Painting | Krug the Thinker
Feb 05, 2013 @ 03:05:05
[…] sharing a project I have been working on for months: my square painting! This all started with a pinwheel painting inspired by Elise’s, and then I made a circle painting. Still enamored of shapes and colors, […]