Michael Schneider Painting I

Michael Schneider "Western Rise"

10X8, Colored , 2023 

How I got my idea was just thinking about the warm weather because here in Iowa it's winter and cold and I was just thinking about summer time and the warmth that summer brings. I really thought about a cool background and view with the canyons and cactus right there. The red, orange, and yellow all really fit well together being warm colors and thought why not give it a try and see what I can do. 

The tools that I used for this was a paintbrush and paint. I used different size paintbrushes if I had to touch up on some place I would use a smaller brush but for the background I used a bigger paintbrush to cover more area. 

This artwork means what I can do and how I can do some cool painting when you get outside of the box and brainstorm big ideas and better ones. I want my audience to think about is all the warm weather here in Iowa to come here in the next months and how cool the west states like Arizona or New Mexico having these cool canyons and cactus which we never see here. The cool sunsets and sunrises in those states as well. 

I think what was most difficult for me was blending in the sun to the yellow background because it had to blend in well enough and that you could see both. If I could change anything I would made some bigger cactus and maybe do like a night day with the cool scenery. 

Realistic is the art style. What I like about this is the sunset and the cactus that I drew since this was the first time drawing cactuses and it was really cool when I was done. 

Michael Schneider "Arctic Winter"

9X12, Colored,  2023 

My idea was trying to find an animal that I could draw and that I would enjoy drawing. I was thinking of some animal in the cold and that the first thing that popped in my head was a polar bear. I think polar bears are really cool animals in how humans rarely see them. I have never seen a polar bear in my life and thought if I can't see one why not draw one. So that was my brainstorm in making this drawing of a polar bear. 

My process in making my polar bear was to start by getting the colors that I would use and the colors that I used were black, blue, white and grey. Next I wanted to start to make the polar bear and making sure that their legs had different colors with the left side legs being more grey and the front that you can see more white. The tools that I used for this was a paintbrush but different size brushes. Then I thought of doing a black sky with white stars which makes it pop out more. 

This artwork means to me is just not being able to see a polar bear but that you can draw things that you may never see in your life. I want my audience to think about my polar bear is the different colors I used and the snow on the ground of the polar bear. There is no symbolic imagery in the work. 

What was most difficult for me making this drawing was probably the moon in the center of the sky because I had to mix black and white together and sometimes it would be to grey and sometimes it would be to light so I had to scramble with do I need more white or more black. If I could change something it would have to be to add some snowflakes falling from the sky because I think that doing that would make the artwork better. 

This can be Surreal and Realistic. The thing that I like about this project is the polar bear and how it turned out and the sprinkled in white snow on the ground on a cold winter night. 

Michael Schneider "Swinging for Summer"

10X8, Colored, 2023

My first idea came with something about golf because I like golf and can do it pretty well. How I got the idea was thinking of a golf portrait of somebody swinging a golf club. I found a picture and kind of got a good idea on what I wanted to do with this project. I liked the sun and clouds on this I feel like it stands out really well and the white stuff on the painting is the clouds. You could say I got an inspiration from my life when my mom got a picture of me golfing with the perfect sunset and background that it was so cool to see me with the beauty of the sky. 

My process was to get the person and the flag and his golf bag done right away and the black ground. Then I would say the sky and the clouds were next but they were really hard to make because it was hard to blend lots of colors together to make the perfect sky. I used a paintbrush a small one to get the smaller stuff and a big paintbrush to paint the bigger things and used different colors for this project. 

What this artwork mean is just the coolness of golf and what the sky and sunset can look and brings out to golf. When you golf it's so awesome to be playing the sport that I love and looking at the golf hole with the beautiful sunset and sky behind it. It gives me chills sometimes when I go out and see the beauty of the sky and the different colors blending. 

What was most difficult for me was the sky and the clouds. I think it was super hard and I knew that it would be a challenge because there are so many things to do and many colors that I had to blend and it got hard sometimes but I overcame that. If I started over I would change the  person and probably make him an actual person not just the black and his golf bag. 

This is Realistic and Surreal can kind of be both. What makes this unique to my own personal style is the sky and sunset coming together to make something really cool and breath taking. I love that it is about golf but also with the sky and sunset.