March/April 2010 Painting Project: Big Brush Painting

By Marion Boddy-Evans

Painting Expert

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Eyes on New York by Tony Trigg

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9/11 Painting - © Tony Trigg, 30 x 40", pencil, computer enhanced and handcoloured

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Tony Trigg, 30 x 40", pencil, computer enhanced and handcoloured

Updated February 13, 2017.

Loosen up by painting with a big brush.

Painting with a big brush is an excellent way to loosen up a painting because it's hard to put down detail. A big brush encourages you to use your whole arm to make broad, sweeping strokes.

Read the project instructions, browse through the gallery of completed project paintings, then get painting!

From the Artist: "I was working on a series of paintings, computer enhanced drawings titled, 'Eyes on _______ '(I fill in the blank with what I'm focusing on).

After witnessing the tragedy of Sep 11, I could not sleep until I put on paper, the terrible image building inside my head.

The image I created shows symbolic faces of people who lost their life on that upsetting day and showing their souls rising slowly towards the heavens with the smoke. Also, I drew eyes peering between the buildings... the eyes of the people who thought of this awful act.... eyes that are still looking and searching to do more harm."

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Towers by Philip James Dodd

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9/11 Painting - © Philip James Dodd 2001, 15x20", acrylic on card

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Philip James Dodd 2001, 15x20", acrylic on card

From the Artist: "Painted two weeks after the attacks on the Trade Center Buildings, Towers aims to portray a sense of loss. In physical terms, the towers are echoes in the dusty sky, piles of rubble whose destruction resonates across the horizon. After the devastation it was clear that the loss extended far beyond physicality. I combined the sense of defeat felt on that day, with the realization of vulnerability, and fear associated with sudden weakness.

This is the flag at the towers' base, withered, scarred, a part of America's consciousness effectively and recently dead. That curled up flag is charactered also to acknowledge the people lost, symbolic access to the horror of that day. Visually the Towers also provide the number 11, while the flag is the number 9."

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Chaos by Gloria Nye

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9/11 Painting - © Gloria Nye 2002, 6 x 8", acrylic

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Gloria Nye 2002, 6 x 8", acrylic

From the Artist: "I attended a workshop on 23 September 2001. Sitting in the peaceful countryside was a stark contrast to what was happening in New York City. My sister had just arrived safely home, disturbed from her recent visit with her children, in Arizona. I took out the brilliant red, white, and blue tubes of acrylic and thought of the chaos reigning in that great city of those beautiful towers no longer standing.

As I thought of the pain that so many people were feeling, I found myself painting a skyline in chaos and before I knew it the towers rose strong again."

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September 11th: Light and Memory by Sergey Muravyev

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9/11 Painting - © Sergey Muravyev 2002, mixed media

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Sergey Muravyev 2002, mixed media

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One Day Of The Life by Sergey Muravyev

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9/11 Painting - © Sergey Muravyev 2001, 9 x 7" watercolor

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Sergey Muravyev 2001, 9 x 7" watercolor

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Souls by Nicole Marques

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9/11 Painting - © Nicole Marques 2001, digital art.

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Nicole Marques 2001, digital art.

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The Madonna in Hell by Fevorr J Nwokorie

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9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: Fevorr J Nwokorie

From the Artist: I am a Nigerian artist working and living in the Gambia. In this painting I tried to portray America as she is a multi-religious faced woman, weeping and engulfed in smoke, flame, and the pain of one day's doom/tragic experience. As if that isn't enough hanging from her neck lace is a plane (terrorist threat).

I would have titled this painting "Bad things happening to good people" but decided to choose a phrase that best describes what I feel and "SHE" feels as she asks why, why and why.

Psalm 42;10 and Psalm 43;17 is what all the good people should know now.

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"Falling Man" By Derek John

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9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: Photo © Derek John

From the Artist: I painted this as a response to the story I have heard about this 'falling man'. I have read several articles and watched TV documentaries on this subject and feel deeply moved by it. The backdrop of the towers behind his falling body put me in mind of the stars and stripes. Even in such unimaginable horror there is a kind of beauty, something I'm not entirely sure I understand.

To my mind 9/11 happened to me as much at it happened to anyone in New York or America.

It happened to all of us and it left a profound mark. It was truly a horrible day.

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September 11th by Colleen O'Hara Schewlakow

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9/11 Painting - © Colleen O'Hara Schewlakow 2002, 24 x 30 inches, mixed media

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Colleen O'Hara Schewlakow 2002, 24 x 30 inches, mixed media

From the Artist: "This work was done on wood and consists of a collage of photos and 'newspaper headlines' (which I had made on my computer), painted over using encaustic technique, and finally aluminum strips were added to the piece. Simply entitled September 11th, I made this piece while feeling the full intensity of grief, rage, and pain of the time.

Etched in my mind so clearly were the images of the fireballs engulfing the twin towers; that is what the black and orange wax represents.

Showing through the 'flames and smoke' are the images of some of the heroes firefighters at the Pentagon draping the American flag on the building, as well as headlines about all of the planes the terrorists brought down, in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. The fixed objects represent the remaining pieces of the facade of the World Trade Center, which stood out so eerily in the smoking wreckage of the collapsed towers."

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September 11 the Attack by Ingrid Neuhofer Dohm

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9/11 Painting - © Ingrid Neuhofer Dohm 2001, 4 x 4 feet, acrylic on canvas

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Ingrid Neuhofer Dohm 2001, 4 x 4 feet, acrylic on canvas

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11-09 by Luis Herberto

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9/11 Painting - © Luis Herberto, 150 x 150 cm, oil on canvas

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Luis Herberto, 150 x 150 cm, oil on canvas

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The Hero by Khai Nguyen

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9/11 Painting - © Khai Nguyen 2002, 36 x 24", oil on canvas

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Khai Nguyen 2002, 36 x 24", oil on canvas

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Above the Fallen by Amy Stump

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9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © Amy Stump 2002

From the Artist: "Through a God-Sent vision the day after the 9/11 tragedy I began this portait of Ground Zero. A fallen victim lovingly honored with the flag, the humanity of the nation with a worker kneeling beside the victim, the honor for the victim with the shadows of a military salute, and the blessing of the nation with the shadows of a priest praying for the victim. It took a year, and close to 400 hours in creating this picture.

"I created a limited edition of prints as a fund-raiser; a portion of the profits went to the 9/11 fund for Widows and Children, the Clay County Police Athletic League and Explorer Team, and the Orange Park Methodist Church."

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Ground Zero by James Wright

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9/11 Painting - © James Wright 2002, 48 x 36" acrylics

9/11 Paintings. Photo Credit: © James Wright 2002, 48 x 36" acrylics

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The Flag by Irene Nowicki

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9/11 Painting - © Irene Nowicki 2001, 22 x 34", oil on canvas

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911 by Beverly Dudley

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9/11 Painting - © Beverly Dudley 2001, 36" x 48" Oil on Masonite.

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911 by SE Morgan

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9/11 Painting - © SE Morgan 2001, 24 x 24", acrylic on canvas

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Americana by Anthony Amabile

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9/11 Painting - © Anthony Amabile 2001, 30" x 72", oil on canvas

From the Artist: "As an American the impact of September 11th awakened a sense of patriotism, as a human they inflicted a sense of fear and as an artist the events numbed my senses. I wished to convey a sense of helplessness in the painting Americana. I shrouded the faces of the figures to represent those faceless victims and heroes, also to convey a sense of humiliation and helplessness. The hands of the figures are behind the back as if bound, also to convey a sense of helplessness.

The background colors: red, white, and blue to symbolize: not only my country's colors but also blood, innocence, and freedom. This is a disturbing image for me ...
disturbing in the sense that it was inspired by events which altered our perception of the world. The type of prison inflicted by terrorism and acts of violence may not have walls, cages, or shackles in a physical sense but the effect on the spirit is similar."

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Flower of Goodness by Chard Chenier

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9/11 Painting - © Chard Chenier 2002, 30 x 36", acrylic on canvas

From the Artist: On September 11th I wrote the final sentence of my new website: "Now the 21st century is an incentive to create new artwork - inspired, as always, by Truth and Beauty, the foundation of what is best in us." Then I turned on the television and saw the second plane hit the tower. "How ironic," I thought, "to have written such a hopeful sentence and then be faced with all this wanton destruction."

On September 11th I lost people I knew personally.

This catastrophe was disorienting and depressing. Thanks to the creative process I was able to deal with my grief in a positive way. In Flower of Goodness the black void on the left side symbolizes the despair and immorality of September 11th. In answer to this the flower's intrinsic "goodness" and "beauty" rise up against the heartless abyss of Evil. This image reaffirms the importance of what is good in human nature. I hope it helps others rediscover hope. The last sentence I wrote for my website is a reminder that courage comes from caring, not hate."

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Jeopardized Equilibrium by Benoit Perrault

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9/11 Painting - © Benoit Perrault 2001, 30 x 36", acrylic on canvas

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Remembrance by Mikel Shllaku

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9/11 Painting - © Mikel Shllaku 2002, 8 x 9", oil

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March/April 2010 Painting Project: Big Brush Painting

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