Forest Family Original Painting

I started this painting at Electric Forest in 2023. The reference photo I used is the culmination of a class I took for the 3-D program, Blender led by the artist Martin Wittfooth, through Smarter Art School last spring (which I would recommend to anyone interested)

I’ve always wanted to create paintings that are visually complex, with multiple light sources, patterns and textures. Creating imaginary worlds that smack of realism is a lot easier using Blender.

So for the class assignment I tried to make something as complex as possible that had a whimsical and fun vibe to it. This is the result. I ended up making some edits in the process of painting, mostly making things brighter, cranking some saturation and adding little worlds in three of the glowing orbs. 

I’m intrigued by the idea of multiple realities and timelines and this is how I represented that in this painting. The sentient cartoon-like mushrooms are living in the cognitive/ spiritual realm looking through their glowing crystal orbs at our more mundane, physical reality. 

I tried to blend op-art in the landscape, realism with the animals, trees and water, and a psychedelic shimmer with the fifty or so light sources (including the one out of frame, top right)

• 46” x 41”
• acrylic on canvas
• 2024