What If

By: Tanya M. Green
6” x 6“ Acrylic on Canvas Panel
Study #22 - 7.6.2021
SOLD

I have not forgotten about my 30 acrylic studies goal. I’ve just been so busy designing and implementing murals that I haven’t spent much time at my easel. But that time away got me thinking about the way we see images presented to us through social media. What’s real and what’s “made better” by filters and apps?

Artists are the original photo processors and manipulators. Before there was an “app for that,” artists translated the world around them through the elements and principles of art. In this painting, I decided to experiment and blend what an app sees with what I see.

I took a photo of my son at Alum Spring park and processed it through the Prisma app. I then adjusted the colors and painted like I normally do: breaking down areas into blocks of color and emphasizing different planes through value and shape.

By attempting an artwork this way, I was challenged to use colors in a way I hadn’t before. I even approached my underpainting differently too. Here’s to constantly asking yourself “what if” and trying new ways of doing things.