I need some advice on this one. [Art nerds welcome!] =)

bcf7683
bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
So I'm taking a survey of sorts, you could say. I am taking part in an art competition next month and I need some help with the theme. The theme is "Up & Away" which references air. I have to create a live painting on a street downtown in 6 hours that's on an 8' x 10' canvas.

So my question is, what do you picture when you think of "air" (besides the obvious blue sky and puffy clouds)? I have a few ideas that I'm working on, but I thought it'd be interesting to see how others interpret this.

Thanks in advance! :drinker: :heart:
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Replies

  • karl39x
    karl39x Posts: 586 Member
    I saw an abstract picture of what was supposed to be a feather (looked more like a pen) and it was representing a "bird in flight."
    I would draw a bird, balloons, or a plane flying up to the clouds. Something like that.
  • gzus7freek
    gzus7freek Posts: 494 Member
    THIS

    dust_off_canned_air.jpg
  • gzus7freek
    gzus7freek Posts: 494 Member
    OR THIS

    1175324_538213056233206_965169044_n.jpg
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
    The movie UP based on the name your theme. I always think of hot air balloons when I think of sky related artsy paintings, I feel other modern planes are too fast for like that type of environment.
  • Shikonneko
    Shikonneko Posts: 187 Member
    Wind and breezy flowing lines, blues and greens (unless you're going for a more of a sunrise/sunset aesthetic), bunches of bubbles too sometimes.
  • endoftheside
    endoftheside Posts: 568 Member
    A dead person lying in bed finally at peace, with their spirit moving up and away out a large open window with billowing gauzy drapes and blue sky and clouds visible.
  • DashDeV
    DashDeV Posts: 545 Member
    Just leave it completely blank.
  • Cliffslosinit
    Cliffslosinit Posts: 5,044 Member
    The Movie "Up".....
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    Just leave it completely blank.
    If I wasn't up to win $1,000 maybe I'd consider that :happy:
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    OR THIS

    1175324_538213056233206_965169044_n.jpg

    You totally fulfilled the smart@ss answers I was expecting!
  • For me I would want to see something like a abstract angel with lots of light purples. You can really play off the colors that are normally in a sunset or sunrise.
  • asimmons221
    asimmons221 Posts: 294 Member
    The movie UP based on the name your theme. I always think of hot air balloons when I think of sky related artsy paintings, I feel other modern planes are too fast for like that type of environment.

    Going off of this, a hot air balloon theme would be pretty cool.
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    When I think of air it's either movement or stillness. I would probably paint something that's being affected by the air...maybe trees in a hurricane, sailboats with their spinnakers billowing, swirling smoke... I think the best painter of air and atmosphere was probably JMW Turner...I might look at some of his work to get inspired.
  • adlace
    adlace Posts: 375 Member
    window to the stormy cosmos with billowing, lacy curtains. Maybe a star ship. Carl Sagan kind of thoughts.
  • asbjrc427
    asbjrc427 Posts: 29 Member
    Clothes flapping up high in the wind on a clothes line. That's what just popped into my head. Maybe showing a piece that has just escaped the clutches of the clothespin.
  • An angel sounds like a really good idea. Up and away reminded me of balloons, wind, and heaven.
  • Heyyleigh
    Heyyleigh Posts: 268 Member
    Bubbles, Palm trees, Flower particles in the air, and big birds in the air.
  • Fittreelol
    Fittreelol Posts: 2,535 Member
    Up and away makes me think of gravity, or overcoming it. Thus you should paint Newton, but holding a balloon to placate the "i heart thomas kincade" crowd.
  • A person blowing on a dandelion seed head. Or blowing bubbles. Contrast would be cool. Since I typically think of a child blowing on the dandelion or blowing bubbles, maybe have it be someone that you would not typically think of doing it; an elderly person, gang banger, robot, etc.
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  • A medieval archer shooting a arrow from a castle wall? Ok so I'm watching Game of Thrones at the moment lol
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
    You know how trees at the beach have their branches all growing in one direction? That's what I thought of....
  • Air:

    Oxygen, pollution, life, survival, freedom, open spaces, city vs. countryside, bioterrorism, health, natural forms, changing seasons...

    Brain going crazy with things I'm linking with air!
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Personally, I would go abstract with this and focus on movement and color. But if you want to go traditional, hot air balloons make a nice subject.
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  • When i think of air, i like to think of intangible things, like a voice or sound. Something that you could never really grasp, hold or control, fleeting, something that manipulates that air\atmosphere.
  • JingleMuffin
    JingleMuffin Posts: 543 Member
    a sweet dunk, basketball -sweat everywhere. someone way off the ground about to pound the ball.
  • I would do some hot air balloons
  • I think of a dark night sky full of Thai sky/wish lanterns. Beautiful
  • MoreLikeMe43
    MoreLikeMe43 Posts: 21 Member
    Don't know if relation to "air" is required, but "Up and Away" makes me think of a child on a swing, trying to "shoot the moon," as we used to say. I see long hair trailing in the wind.

    But if that puts me in the "I heart Thomas Kinkade" crowd, then I say make it a zombie child ... with tattered clothes trailing in the wind. :-D