The process of a surreal painting

I am currently working on a series of surreal paintings titled Terminal Intensity. I work on 3 different canvases everyday. My attempt in unifying the concept throughout the series has been going well but I feel as if they are coming along slowly.

I find myself thinking about what to do next in each painting. Artist's probably spend more time looking at the work than actually applying paint. That is my experience in the development of surrealism.

Part of myself imposed problem is that the canvases are pretty big and the multiple details that I am including in these pieces are smaller than the end of your pinky finger.

What I've been doing is painting people into the artwork. These people are doing things like hanging laundry on a line, drawing water from a well, throwing a ball for a dog, a horse with a rider, a couple relaxing on a lawn, a couple picnicking, houses, (which are something new for me to think about) and trees.

Now I'm a Bob Ross fan like most studying artist's. I like the simplification of the forms he creates and has allowed me to realize that I can create something with enough detail, or less detail, and know that your mind will fill in the rest by what you think it is by your own references. Some people say that perhaps that isn't enough, that the artist needs more detail. I don't subscribe to this idea of having to obsess on detail. Take a look at Monet, for example. I know what a Lilly looks like however the large Lilly ponds that he created were so muted in detail he was counting on your mind filling in the rest.

Many ancient Japanese paintings look very detailed but they were masters of creating space and dimension. I had to research a series of Japanese paintings and write an essay on the work while I was in college at The Art Institute of Chicago in the late 90's. I wasn't looking forward to the assignment but as I began to go over the paintings and the book that was following the tour, I gained knowledge of spacial perspective and simplicity in suggestion. A comment on my final paper form my instructor was, "How brilliant, I had never realized what you have pointed out in this paper."

During this surreal development I am focusing on many aspects of what I have observed and have experienced in my life. Although the series seems to be going slow I am adding everyday to each piece. Tonight I had sent my girlfriend 3 digital photos of the three paintings I'm working on and, thankfully, she saw the changes and pointed out almost everyone of them. I was so happy about that. She is not an artist and when I can get something by a person that isn't as critical as another artist, I know that I'm on my way to a successful work.

Take a look at the Terminal Intensity series in progress at http://www.davidehlen.com/Introduction_to_terminal_intensity.html

Be good humans!

Dave