Category Archives: colorful art

Dynamic Art Captures Movement and Energy

dynamic art

© Betty Butler, Cosmic Ginkgo Leaves, Digital Collage  

I am honored to have three works in the Flow exhibition at the Naturalist Gallery of Contemporary Art. It is currently on display online through December 7, 2024. The jurors were looking for dynamic art capturing movement and energy.

In one of the selected digital collages, above, ginkgo leaves, with their wavy shape and curvy stem, reflect my love of natural forms. To create this image, I used a technique that involves spreading out the leaves, taking photographs, and silhouetting them in black and white in Photoshop. Then, I overlapped the photos into an exciting composition and added strokes of watercolor-like digital painting. The result is colorful leaves that lay on a star-lit background. Finally, to pull the image together, I drew a galactic-like swirling line on top of the entire image.

Dynamic Pastel Paintings

© Betty Butler, Bright Red Blossoms, 10 x 12in., © Betty Butler, Three Yellow Mums, 8 x 11in.

Above are some of my recent works in soft pastel. Bright Red Blossoms, left, invited a bold color treatment of red, blue, and light purple. With Three Yellow Mums, right, I echoed the yellow-orange flower patterns with loose stripes of complimentary blue and purple in the background. Like my digital work, I tried to instill dynamic energy with line and texture.