It started when I was looking through my sketchbook, and I came across a drawing I had made a while ago. It featured black ink lines from an illustration pen. I was particularly interested in the intersection points of these crossing lines, which originated from two diagonals with one crossing them in a slightly wavy manner.
I decided to take a photo of the drawing and bring it into Procreate on my iPad, where I began filling in the spaces between the lines with colors that shifted according to the color wheel. I was intrigued by the idea of adjusting the opacity of the fills and observing the new colors created when layers overlapped. I spent some time tweaking and finding a pleasing balance between these colors, resulting in a wonderful composition. This is why I call it Cross Beams.
A slightly unexpected color emerges when you layer three opaque colors on top of one another—it introduces an element of chance. I like to tie these ideas to philosophy: intentional paths or directions in life often cross with unexpected elements. While we might predict these intersections, their outcomes—whether a color, a result, or a moment—are not always completely foreseeable.
The final outcome of this exploration was an oil painting I created from the composition. Part of me feels like I failed or cheated because I mixed the colors independently instead of allowing the overlapping layers to create the colors themselves. I’m not entirely sure why I avoided that, but I plan to make another painting—perhaps in watercolor or acrylic—where I focus on this layered approach.
Nonetheless, the result is visually captivating. It evokes movement in multiple directions, crossing beams, color relationships, and a sense of curiosity and beauty. It reminds me of something one of my painting instructors once said: “Two colors beside each other are complex.” That stuck with me. She was right—the colors are infinitely subtle because there is an infinite number of combinations you can mix. But when placed next to each other in a composition, they either harmonize, resonate, or create a push-and-pull relationship.
