Anything About Art

Blog Items by Alan Brain

Here is a collection of interesting articles about art written by Alan Brain maker of Original Abstract Paintings

Making a Minimal Painting – include only that which really interests you

Making a Minimal Painting Artist Alan Brain describes how he considers what to include in his minimal painting inspired by a photograph of Cold Canada. Here is the photograph... Taken by artist...

xxxemotion in paintings xxx

Emotion in Paintings - What Does That Mean? view some examples of paintings with emotion and journey with the artist to discover and create art with emotion A post from artist Alan Brain whose goal...

points of interest Dec 2020

alan brain art points of interest For me art is a wonderful antidote and as this eventful year draws to a close I thought I would put together some points of interest from an artistic viewpoint -...

hat paintings

Hat Paintings Hats have inspired me to make a whole range of paintings. Some are about happiness, fun and beauty, others are about intrigue, respect and sadness. In other words my paintings with...

Aerobility Aviators Ball Silent Auction

Aerobility Aviators Ball Silent Auction Finished 28th. November 2020! pleased that all my contributions were taken You can preview here the paintings to be auctioned at this year's...

Dialogue with Death Exhibition

Dialogue with Death Exhibition On 11th. November we will once again commemorate the fallen from wars. In March 2015 I was pleased to exhibit some of my war series paintings at the Dialogue with...

Mysterious Figure Paintings

Mysterious Figure Paintings You can use frustration to fuel creation for example, to make a series of mysterious figure paintings You find a good idea, dont stop after the first painting,...

very different paintings

Very Different Paintings When I first started to paint I wanted like most others to make something recognisable in a pleasing setting such as a boat on a lake or a beautiful sunrise on...

World War One paintings

World War One Paintings One hundred years ago the war to end all wars began, it was called The Great War - I have studied that conflict and visited Flanders, it hardened my hatred of war and...

Alan Brain Art Exhibition at The Hatch Gallery in Christchurch

Hatch Gallery Art Exhibition Christchurch, Dorset August 17th - Sep 3rd. You can see more posts on my website alanbrainart. The Hatch Gallery art exhibition is over now but here is a view of the...

Remembrance Week Paintings.

Remembrance Week at St Marks Church Highcliffe About The Paintings Original Artwork by Local Artist Alan Brain to Commemorate the end of The Great War Aftermath Soldiers who survived the...

Cropping Paintings – to crop or not to crop?

Cropping Paintings – to crop or not to crop? Should an artist ever crop their painting? I think "YES" but consider carefully first. And then reconsider before reaching for the scissors...A...

painting mother – a challenge and a great learning experience

Painting Mother abstract figure paintings for sale What to get for my mother's ninetieth birthday? She has all she needs, hmm, and then I thought I would paint her a painting. What an obvious (but...

Painting strong watercolours – how do you do that?

Painting strong watercolours - how do you do that? I am often asked about how I get watercolour to be so strong, vibrant and colourful. Painting strong watercolours is what I do and I am happy to...

Change a Painting -why?

see more paintings Why change a painting? Alan Brain recalls some examples... Sometimes, after you think you have finished you decide to change a painting. It can be months later, even years -...

three abstract paintings in yellow

"Paint more abstract yellow paintings" That was guidance given to me (well an instruction really 🙂 ) from a lady who knows - Katherine Lieu. So I have. And they keep coming. Here are three and I...

The Guild of Aviation Artists – good to be part of it with my Different Aviation Paintings

The Guild of Aviation Artists good to be part of The Guild with my different abstract aviation paintings I have rejoined The Guild of Aviation Artists. Some years ago The Guild helped me to...

making simple paintings is a challenge

Simple paintings - hah! I have always wanted my message from the painting to be loud and clear. For years I have been using everything I can to try and do that. Everything like colour, texture,...

How I Paint (well, this type of painting anyway)

Painting for me begins with an idea and that can come from anywhere but usually it is an idea that occurred to me while I was painting my last one. And so a theme grows at least while the ideas keep...

red and blue paintings

Painting with one colour, red and blue paintings thus far. To use one colour in a painting is challenging to me. I want the emotion to be created by the single hue in a simple design....

art show success?

I have just finished an art show and the obvious question arises - "was it a success?" A lot of us measure an art show success by how much money we made; that is important of course but I believe we...

It’s okay to copy

It's okay to copy someone else's work, just don't claim it as your own. We learn by copying - understanding the artist's technique can improve our own, and we understand better how the artist...

tips for artists

I have had truckloads of tips for artists since I started painting, a lot of it has been valuable and some downright harmful. In other words I have had a normal education. I have forgotten the bad...