How I approach Paintings

*Source for photo: https://www.hieronymus-bosch.org

I spend a good deal of time thinking about oil paintings. One thing I am ever grateful to my Mamo for is her love of art and talking about art, from her to classes in school I picked up a sense of what I admire, what I find challenging as a painter and in-turn what dazzles me when I encounter sophisticated work in the world, wether it be ancient, old masters, modern, or the working contemporary scene.

When I approach paintings I first "feel" the piece without left brain stuff coming in to try and understand the experience. I'm looking for emotions and substance that moves me in some way, this is very important to me as a "vibe" is a big deal and separates a piece from decorative art to fine art. Don't get me wrong I LOVE the decorative arts but the purpose of this post is to talk about Fine Art, in particular paintings.

Usually I delineate a piece in seconds as there is a visceral effect when in the presence of Masterful work. Let me take you into a fast overview breakdown of what I think makes a work Masterful.

*Source for photo: http://www.crystalinks.com/romeart.html

First (usually) the color palette hits me and the more complex the more alluring -- I want to clarify that complexity of palette can be seen on gray scale value studies as easily as it can on chroma saturated pieces. Complexity comes from the mixing of paints. It seems more common than ever for artist to use from the tube to the working surface these days, and certainly I have been utterly moved by such works but it is less common than when I am trying to figure out "what color is that [?]" on a complex piece. I learned to always mix my paints and never use from the tube. I will give an example for clarity; Black and white are both mixes of color. What tone of black is needed, warm, cool, deep, ect; I mix many pigments to get the perfect black that will sit into the scene and not stand out as line or blaring shadow (more on line work and edge later), the same goes with white, if you really look at nature you will find that there really is not true black or white and this is where good color theory classes or books help artist just starting to develop a sense of depth. I often find myself moving on from tube to surface works unless there are other compelling things that work with the simplicity of palette (and there are many great artist that understand the juxtaposition of tension).

*Source for photo: http://www.nicolasamori.com

Secondly I would like to look at overall composition. This is a big part of the show to many people and depending on the other elements (edge, palette, brushwork/palette knife, perspective/dimensionality, ect) is often what hits most non-trained artist (this includes self taught as they are also trained) first. What's the story? What is being conveyed? Now, I am simplifying this by conjoining aspects into this overarching aspect -- there can be anything from allegory to abstract compositions telling a story and it's the story aspect that I am, in general, talking about here. I find that a masterful still life, or landscape can be as compelling as pieces with figures. Is the fruit ripe and juicy, or bruised and starting to rot? Is that overcast light foreboding or just put there in a way that seems to add little to a story (hence decorative)? This goes for portraits also. I am going to do a post on portraits soon, suffice it to say, I LOVE portraiture as a means to tell a story and yet the market is so saturated with passe' work and showboating that the whole craft is suffering, it's become the Stepford Wives syndrome in paintings, masses of lifeless yet well done portraits everywhere -- it's a terrible plague. A well done composition has depth and subtly, perhaps even in-your-face elements but done in a cohesive and thoughtful manner no matter how bold or possibly "offensive" to some. Anything can be a character or activated symbol and in the hands of a Master painter this aspect alone can take the viewer on a journey. I especially love art that challenges me. There is nothing like discovering odd things in a painting, to question is a powerful thing and to be presented with subject matter that has a certain life is quite rare. I am always on the lookout for artist that can give me that feeling of presence.

*Source for photo: http://www.leocarrington.com/home-pagina-principal-1.html

Third is Edge. I am particularly attracted to masterful edgework and so thrilled when I encounter it in living artist as it's seems to have fallen out of favor to line. There is nothing so satisfying as trying to focus in on edgework to see where one thing ends and the next begins and all the Great Old Masters observed this in nature (optically) and presented it in the great works of days gone by. The very first thing I think of in sophisticated work is Edge. Again, do not get me wrong, I love line work and I admire many pieces of art that showcase line, it's just a different experience, more left brain, more drawer and draftsman, less painterly.

*Source for photo: http://www.agostinoarrivabene.it

Fourth is quality of light. Often when I've tried to reach the kernel of magic in a painting it's come down to light more often than not. Light is such a powerful force to capture, seemingly straight forward and easily executed, yet, it's elusive and not just about direction, it's a force of nature, a living being that animates the flat world bringing in curve and showing what is dense and lurking beyond reach. Light literally sets the mood and it can be presented in so many ways from thin washes to thick swatches of pigment. When it comes to paintings I'm always looking for the light.

*Source for photo: http://www.abcgallery.com/W/whistler/whistler.html

Fifth is technique of application. Whether brushes, knives, fingers, rags or whatever else as many things are used in the fabrication of great works. I truly love to see thick amounts of paint on a surface (board, textile, paper, ect) over seeing the surface of what the paint lays on, thin paintings seems sad to me, yet, I've been blown away by some of the old greats in museums and private collections or working artist exhibiting currently. There are no real hard rules for me in art, just observations of what works for me and what does not and this is why art is so exciting as it's all about a relationship with a piece. I really enjoy some of the newer methods of collage and additional stuff that is going into paintings, so for this section I just go mainly on "feeling" again but I sure do love to see artist push the way in which painting happens and is viewed.

*A detail shot of a work in progress of an abstraction portrait I'm working on (post to come tomorrow regarding this piece).

And for the final aspect I'm going to cover today in brief; method/mode/style. Impasto. El Greco, value, chroma, expressionism, realism, abstractions, ect. I really tend to gravitate towards classical realism, and abstracted realism the most. There are so many styles that it's a never ending conversation so I am going to focus on my favorites (and my one least favorite style) as this is an opinion piece. I guess the best way to start this is to present the name of the artist that has consistently and for the longest amount of time inspired me: Francisco José de Goya. For all the reasons I've already stated the works of Goya shine. I realize that he is on the most famous list, but there is truly a reason why and it's his body of work! I have at different times been madly in love with so many painters and styles, yet, it's Goya's work that always kept me true to what I value and what I most wanted to strive for. I'm not going to be too much more verbose about Goya's merits and value to me as a painter, I simply wanted to preset a pentacle, shiny and ever new. Moving on to a style that I find the least exciting is photo-realism. PR was all the craze in the 60s and still garners a huge amount of activity. I find that most painters are judged on the scales of this style by non-artist, sadly, and perhaps this is partly why I have such an aversion to the the style. Another main reason I find it a bit boring is the method in which it is executed, often drafted out rather than free hand (eye trained) and also because there is nothing left for my right brain to play with -- I would rather have an exceptional photograph than a photo-real painting.

*Source for photo: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/asset/witches-sabbath/bgFtTP9xX74Blw

I feel that this post is getting to long which is why I did more of an overview. I did not get into many other aspects of what attracts me to some paintings. I will say this in closing: There are some paintings that have moved me at the soul level, pieces where I've had such a mix of emotions and wonderment that no amount of deconstruction could attempt to define what the "certain something" is and that is what keeps me painting and looking. Painters that take all the best from the past and move it forward with a new voice and not just a copy of a style or mode -- I value real individualism, uniqueness, authenticity and overall style in new works.

*Source for photo: http://www.artnet.com/artists/willem-de-kooning/2

I hope I did not bore you to pieces and as always get creative in some way -- find your voice and let it out. <3