LOOKING AT BUDDHA WITHIN

People always seem curious about the way I paint and how I get my inspirations, so I have put together this article in the hope that it answers some of those questions.

First of all, I can only do a painting if I can see it clearly in my mind for a good length of time. I get many glimpses of fantastic images that would be great to paint, but the images are usually either fleeting or constantly changing. If an image stays with me unchanged for more than a week, that is my tap on the shoulder to take note and paint it.

INITIAL INSPIRATION

I first saw BUDDHA WITHIN during a meditation and the image stayed strong, clear and unchanging for two months before I had the opportunity to work on it. This was definitely a vision I had to paint.

In the meditation I did not see the complete painting as it is now. The parts I saw were: a golden Buddha sitting in meditation pose within an equilateral triangle and the cosmos in the background. This image sat in the centre of the crown chakra, and the crown chakra was encircled by the rainbow serpent. I also saw the quadrants that represented the earth where a large tree had many symbols hanging from its branches. The ocean, where the dolphins, whales and other sea creatures dwelled, and the air with birds and butterflies. I did not see all the details for any of the quadrants, they came later as the painting progressed. This is the case with most of my paintings, I see a certain amount initially and the rest comes to me in stages.

MATERIALS

Before I can begin painting, I need to decide what size canvas I wish to work on and make sure I have all the materials need. I work with both Windsor & Newton and Art Spectrum oil paints, and lately I have been using a lot of Gold and Iridescent White (both W&N). I find the Iridescent White such a wonderful paint to use as it mixes so well with any oil, giving the colour an extra quality and dimension. When using oils, I try to keep the colours as pure and vibrant as possible.

In case you are wondering, I mostly use the 00 and 000 brushes! Yes, they are tiny and the work takes a long time. However, the end result is definitely worth all the time consuming effort.

For BUDDHA WITHIN I also included Swarovsky crystals. I used them to represent the relevant chakras and I put them in the purple area (crown chakra) surrounding the Buddha. Have a look at the Buddha detailed image at the bottom of this page. Within the crown chakra I also sprinkles some of sand from the Sand Mandala.

TECHNIQUES

People often ask me how I do the interlacing rainbow colours in my various snakes. I first paint the basic colours in dot form one block after the other (see first BUDDHA WITHIN image). Then I paint some yellow dots over the red and green dots, I paint some red dots over the yellow dots, green dots over the yellow and blue dots and so on. I also add at least a couple of shades of each colour. Although the following image is not from BUDDHA WITHIN but from THE AWAKENING it is a good example of what I mean. When the paint is dry I mix a bit of black paint with linseed oil (just enough to tint it) and apple this to the sides of the snake to give it more of a 3D look. In this snake I have also added some white dots to represent stars.

Another technique I really enjoy using can be seen in the image below (detail from PEACE). Instead of applying normal brush strokes, I dab the paint on. It adds a beautiful texture and richness to the painting. I get many wonderful comments about this way of painting.

The following images are a step by step illustration of how I painted BUDDHA WITHIN. You may notice that from time to time I have made changes to things I was not happy with. The dolphins are a good example of this.

BUDDHA WITHIN is an original oil painting, its size is 61cm X 61cm or (24" X 24")

I made a mistake with the sonic waves. They should be travelling outward, away from the
Buddha and not toward the Buddha, oh well...

Even though I will be completely covering the top portion of the tree with leaves, I still felt the
need to paint the whole tree in. I wanted the energy of the tree in its entirety in the painting.

I was having a lot a trouble painting these dolphins. I am
finally happy with the way they appear now however.

Most of the sea creatures came from a beautiful book called
The Great Barrier Reef - A World Heritage National Park
Photography by Gary Bell, text by Dr Tony Ayling (Steve Parish publishing)

Detail of the Golden Buddha. Here you can see the Swarovsky crystals I used to represent
the various chakras as well as some I placed in the purple area, larger crown chakra.