When I have no dream images to figure out how to paint, when I have to change my subject matter to portray because it has become too emotionally difficult to handle (my autistic brother Mike), I don’t know to paint.

I need to paint.

I found a solution today.

Today’s watercolor experiment:

I am attracted to visually interesting phenomena. I am grateful that I always have a camera (my phone) in my pocket to capture them. I have a photo library of these snippets of my past visual environs.

Leaves frequently call to me and beg to be captured on film (I mean pixels). In the spring, the heavy veins of fig leaves are irresistible; the shapes of exotic leaves are also quite a treat.  In the autumn (even in California), the colors in an individual leaf can be inspirational.

When I paint from a photograph, I find myself looking at it intently, magnifying it as large as possible and get an urge to synthesize it with my own hand. I am sure this is not the conventional definition of meditation. It has a calming effect in one way, i.e., drawing the outline checking for proper relationships among the subject’s silhouette; it also stimulates me with the problem of choosing appropriate coloration.

I did this today with a leaf I photographed a couple of weeks ago:

Here is the reference photo:

My contribution to hyporealism.