Where I get my ideas for my Paintings

Although I sometimes wish, my painting layouts don't appear in my imagination. They all start with an actual vision I first see, then photograph. But from there I DO take full use of my imagination and crop the original picture or scene, and Photoshop it.

How and why do I use Photoshop? Since my paintings are semi-abstract I start by adding or eliminating elements from the photo. It's important to me to have a sense of reality to my paintings so at this point I am still thinking "Real-World", although many times it is more perfect then possible in my lifetime. In my Flower Paintings I may add more flowers or remove wilted leaves. In my Coastal Paintings I may add boats, palm trees, etc. Sometimes I have to remove people that were there at the time of the photograph, and other times I add them!

Now comes the fun part. This is where I play with the colors to create a better interest in the scene. This I take to extreme levels as I transform what was once a reality-based picture into something more abstract and try to raise up the interest level while again, trying to preserve some reality to the scene.

Now comes the challenging part. I take what is now becoming art into Corel Painter on my computer touch-screen. Once there I can make things look distorted, as if viewed in a dream. Once I'm truly drawn into what I've created I print it out and hang it on a wall in my art room to repeatedly view, along with others I've created, until I'm motivated enough for the painting process.

After one is painted, starting with a blank canvas, it once again hangs on the wall, awaiting final touchups.

While I'm not always happy with every painting, I photograph the ones I like to post on my website where they are for sale as one-of-a-kind paintings in whatever size a buyer wants. Each one is slightly different, as you can probably conclude on your own, but as similar as possible to the original so that each of my buyers will get what they ordered.

Sound easy? It wasn't at first until I got the results I like. I now have two driving forces: what I like and what my customers like.

Flower and Coastal Paintings can be viewed and purchased on my website at:
http://www.dalehenryart.com/

Cheers to those of you that buy art that you like. Collecting art for a profit is a tough proposition unless you're rich. Decorating your home to make it your favorite place is what my art is all about!

Dale Henry