I bet you're going to love this painting of 2 chameleons and a heron, and I'll even tell/show you the reasons why!

I've been creating a new work of art every single day for 2,632 days in a row... And while I love many of those works, there are many that just aren't as good as the other ones, and I've been pondering why.  

Sure... amount of time can sometimes influence it - but you'd be surprised how many times a quickie (from 1-4 hours) can beat out a 14 hour painting...  So what is it?

I think I've figured out what makes the difference between my usual painting, and what engages the mind and heart. And I truly want to know if you like this painting, because I really am testing something here.

There are a few things.  I have some images to illustrate. First, here's the evolution of the piece (leading up to the piece you see above) - after it I'll give you the breakdown... and I'm saving the most important (I think) reason for last.

Ok - so you got to see sketch, preliminary colors, then as they progress the colors and details change- straying from the original sketch to the final one.

Some of the reasons are parts of composition.  

Good composition makes your eye move around the piece. Curved lines are great for directing the eye from side to side and back around.  Here's the movement flow here (it goes from either side) Also, since we are drawn to look at eyes, these chameleons are looking at each other.

Good composition has a lot of contrast in it:  Contrast between curved and straight, saturated / unsaturated (lots of color / barely any color), contrast between opposing brightnesses (black and white are perfect opposites ) - the eye is drawn to go to the highest point of contrast. In this case, that is the eye of the more colorful chameleon. The rest of the image is rather bland compared to the chameleon. His eye is the largest solid black spot, which is right next to a super-bright green.  

Another high contrast spot is the lightning bolt.

Next, I used the Golden Ratio - this is what Michelangelo emphasized in Vitruvian Man.

The golden ratio is a way of splitting shapes into a constant repeating pattern. It is also known as a Fibonacci sequence. There are a few different ones that I use here - the grid (same thing a camera view finder shows you-- "Rule of 3rds") --

The Heron's eye is on the intersection of lines. That's not a coincidence. Neither is it coincience that the green chameleon's eye is at the beginning of the spiral, and the tail / back of the colorful chameleon follow the curve of the spiral.

I'm not a mathematical genius (I always say "There are 4 kinds of people in this world: Those that can do math, and those who can't!") - so I (and you can) use an app called Phi Matrix.( there's great examples on the home page to explain Fibonacci in design, and there's even a free trial of the software).

One other form of contrast is between lots of detail, and barely any.  The background here is very muted in both definition, color variety, and brightness.... You barely notice it... Though it is a big part of the scene.

All of the above reasons are just "basic design" - they are things that your brain knows whether you've ever taken an art class, or read an art book or not... You might not be able to define why you like something (but after reading this, you now do know). So... now the big reveal...

Story / Voice / Intention  (I don't know if there's other terms for this- this is what I'm calling them):

Many times I'll just paint something - e.g. a woman. A dog. A tree. A robot.  But, that doesn't tell a story. So people may appreciate a cute dog or a beautiful woman... but the image won't go viral, per-se. What I've realized is that if there is an actual story, people will appreciate it more. 

In this image, there is a chameleon that's riding on top of a heron, and is painting another chameleon... It looks like it's probably night, and the heron has a funky hair-color (this is another form of contrast:  contrast between what's expected, and the unusual). It can mean anything to you, but there is something going on, and your brain will start trying to make meaning for it. That's story. 

On Facebook where I post my art daily (Year 8 / Year 7  / Year 6 / Year 5 / Year 4 / Year 3 / Year 2 / Year 1) I usually post the images with the caption "Got a title for my latest painting?" -- I came up with this as a way to save me time from having to come up with something witty to write each and every post.... But the end result ended up being amazing: it makes people have to look at the image, figure out what they think is going on in it, and only then can they give it a title.  They have to figure out A story... it doesn't have to be the one that I created.

I don't have to have a story in mind when I paint... I can paint a woman with a sad expression, looking away and holding a rose... I don't need to know why she has a rose or why she's sad.. People will come up with their own reasons for those things.

Voice is the tone of the image. My voice is often silly / mischievous (See my Oz paintings for many examples of that). A heron that dyes its hair pink counts as silly, as does a chameleon that has musical notes, lightning bolts, and uses a paintbrush.  The background is used in this case to add a little more seriousness and sadness -- it's gloomy, and works hand in hand with the green chameleon's expression, which is also gloomy. Yup, you guessed it- that's another form of contrast here.. Happy Chameleon / Sad Chameleon.

And... drumroll..  Intention:  The story & message that I want the image to have.  In my philosophizing  over the last few months, I've realized that an image is so much stronger if I have a story in mind for it, a message.... I don't have to tell the viewer what it is... they can often feel the difference between an image that has an intention and one that doesn't.

I'll tell you the story behind this one, and let's see if you felt it somewhere in your subconscious as you viewed this painting.

I was listening to an audio book (How The World Sees You - by Sally Hogshead) and she was talking about how 97% of people will say (when asked) that they are better drivers than the average driver... Many are wrong of course, 'cause on a bell curve, you can only have 50% above average, and 50% below...  However, in her extensive research, only 37% say yes when asked if they are fascinating.

That got me thinking how I march to the beat of my own drum.... and I've found much more happiness by becoming friends with other people that travel, have weird schedules, are adrenaline junkies, entrepreneurs.... etc...  Guess you can say "Birds of a feather."  

Perfect example-- I live in Mexico right now- I came here on a whim from Austin, TX, and after 2 weeks decided that I love it here, so am not even going back for my stuff that's in storage. This month I will have been here for a year.  Yesterday I got back from San Diego, where I was painting live at the San Diego Fair. So that I didn't have to get up at 5am to cross the border and make it to the fair area, I stayed with my buddy Carlo in Chula Vista for a few days. 

Carlo bounces between Mexico and the states, has a beard that he's been growing for 15 years, and has a single dreadlock that goes all the way down his back, and actually loops back around... He's been growing that for about 20 years. He flips houses, so gets to work on his own schedule. Of course we get along!

Anyways... back to the painting- I'm listening to Sally, and I think I'm definitely in the 37% that think that they are fascinating.

I think I'm just some dude... but people tell me that I lead a really fascinating life.  I was couch surfing for a full 6 years, launched an award winning course on how to build websites while I was "homeless" (couchsurfing), have been creating a new work of art for 7+ years, and recently shared the stage with Alice Cooper when I donated a work of art to his foundation which sold for $10,000.

I think about how I seek out other weirdos.... And I think about how my goal is to inspire others to pursue their own passions. I constantly get messages from people who got into art or travel or photography or whatever because they see me pursuing my own passion, and being happy.  I don't know about the whole world, but in the USA we are taught that we should stay realistic... be practical.  Thus, many dreams are crushed. 

I spend a lot of time encouraging people to get into art -- like in this Steemit article: Many reasons you should make art, how you can get started (or even be pro) on the cheap, and even get great!

So... all of that combines to the intention of this painting:  That those of us that color outside the lines (march to the beat of our own drums, do not live the traditional lifestyle) have to find others like us.... And we need to bring some color to other peoples' lives!

Like I said- I've been painting for 2,632 days, and very few of my paintings actually have an intention.  

I don't need inspiration to paint.... but, when I do have it, it's a much stronger image... 

YOU of course are fascinating, as you're into Blockchain -which the majority of people know nothing about (they only know the term Bitcoin, many don't even know what that means)... So, if you tell someone that you earn crypto-currency just by being a great community member, they will be blown away. They just know Facebook /Twitter/Instagram. 

If you want to know how to fascinate, and what your fascination type is... Check out Sally Hogshead's stuff - she has a few online assessments. Her stuff is quite good.

If you want to see unique art, make sure to follow me here, as I create new art daily (it's 2PM, and I still haven't slept- been working on this painting since yesterday afternoon - then writing this (if there's typos, I blame sleep deprivation) - as soon as I post, I'm going to sleep, I'll wake up probably at 6, and start on the next painting.

If you dig this post, reblog it - I'm sure someone out there might like the image, or the lesson in this post.

But most importantly - let me know if you liked the image, and got my intention / message before I revealed what it is.

Nighty Night 

-- Ori