Archive for November, 2011
My Abstract Art Class
Recently, I began lessons in abstract art. Since my landscapes are pretty much abstract, I thought perhaps it would help me to learn more about purely abstract art and how it is created. It is such fun – and almost anything goes.
The instructor begins with a critique of work we bring in and one thing she always does is rotate the work to see which way looks better for hanging – and it often isn’t the way you painted it. Then perhaps she or others has a comment or suggestion. She has a demonstration regarding the topic for the day and pictures to stimulate our creativity, and we work on our new paintings until almost the end of the class when we look at every one’s new work.
The painting today came from a still life of apples. Some are enlarged, some diminished or eliminated and/or the colors changed. And voila!
How to Critique Yourself – for the Plein Air Painter
Robert Genn, Canadian plein air painter, in his November 18, 2011 newsletter, answered someone’s question about how to critique one’s own work. Here, in part is his answer:
Quality develops when the artist and the critic are honed into a functioning co-op within the same skull. The “ritual” is to pry the artist away from the critic. The artist can be flamboyant, egocentric and prejudiced. The critic needs to be patient, humble and strict. A split personality may be the price you have to pay to see your work through fresh, unsullied eyes. The operation doesn’t hurt–much.
Divorcing yourself from the preciousness of your efforts and seeing your work as it really is takes time and mileage. This means “alone time” in your working area. No quality work or strong direction will arise in environments where consultants are readily available.
A valuable ploy is to constantly upgrade and rethink standards of excellence, most often done through books and other media. The mere act of holding onto great works or seeing them in museums magically transfers a sense of timelessness and creative soul. Fact is, you will not generally improve by misguided staring at your own efforts.
The Impatient Plein Air Painter (3)
If you are a plein air painter, perhaps you are interested in the differences in painting and handling between alkyds and traditional oils. Michael Chesley Johnson’s article in the December 2011 edition of the Artist’s Magazine lists some suggestions for working with alkyds.
Because alkyds dry quickly, you’ll want to put out only the amount you need for a session. Also, consider a paper palette which you can throw away; a wooden palette is harder to clean after painting with alkyds. You must discard alkyds because they will be unusable the next day. If you mixed the alkyds with traditional oils, the mixtures will take longer to dry than they would with straight alkyds.
Alkyd colors tend to be more transparent than traditional oil paints. Alkyds from the same manufacturer tend to dry with the same even finish. Windsor & Newton’s alkyds have a semi gloss finish; Gamblin’s give a matte finish. Be sure to clean your brushes right away; otherwise, the paint will dry on the brushes and ruin them. If you continue to paint with traditional oils, you may want to put aside a special set of brushes that you use only for alkyds.
The Impatient Plein Air Painter (2)
The traveling plein air painter will find that alkyds dry quickly enough to be easily managed. With a full alkyd palette, the paintings will be wet when you come from the field, but after a day or so, they can be stacked without damage – just use wax paper to separate and protect them.
For the painter who likes to work wet-in-wet, alkyds dry just enough during a painting session to become tacky. The surface then becomes receptive to taking on additional paint. Also, if you play with texture, you’ll be able to layer paint more quickly.
For the studio artist who builds up layers or glazes, each of which is allowed to dry, alkyds are great for establishing an under painting. With alkyds which dry in 18-24 hours, a new layer can be applied the next day. For painters looking to add many layers of glazes, the painting can be completed many weeks sooner than if done in oils. In addition, varnishing can be done much sooner, sometimes in as few as 3 months.
To my readers: look for blogs pots to come out about twice a week in the future.
The Impatient Plein Air Painter
If you are a plein air painter who doesn’t like to wait for your painting to dry, then alkyd oil paints are for you. Alkyd oil paints – or simply, alkyds – can dry to the touch in less than 24 hours. They are ideal for someone who uses multiple layers of glazes, paints wet – into – wet or travels to paint.
Why not just use acrylic paint? Although acrylics have come a long way since their creation in the 1950s, they still don’t handle the way oils do. Alkyds are fully compatible with oil paints. Because alkyds are made with a modified version of the same oils used in traditional oil paints (such as linseed or safflower oil), alkyds can be used interchangeably with traditional oils and their related products (turpentine, mineral spirits and varnishes). And cleanup is exactly the same for alkyds as it is for oils.
The Style of a Landscape Painter
It has always amazed me that if several landscape painters lined up to paint the same scene no two would produce paintings that looked the same. The compositions would be organized differently, the artists would choose different colors to represent the landscape and they would apply the paint differently.
Ultimately one’s experiences and personality enable each artist to create a painting style unique to that person. One’s personality influences every choice, whether the subject is depicted realistically or abstractly, the strokes loosely or tightly, and the colors used. The painter’s style is as unique as his signature.
The Abstract Painter
This abstract painter just traveled from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Fort Myers, FL, for the winter. I drove the almost 1200 miles mostly over this past weekend, finishing the trip Monday Morning.
It is so nice to be back in the land of summer with a high today of about 82 degrees. Now that I have taken the sheets off the furniture, put the table and chairs outside in the lanai, gone to the grocery and signed up for a class in abstract painting which starts next week, I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks. Since I paint abstract landscapes, I think it would be well if I knew more about abstract painting in general. I’ll keep you posted.
Description
Colorful original contemporary hand painted abstract oil landscape & acrylic paintings on canvas
The Vision of the Landscape Painter
When deciding on a view to paint, the landscape painter must ask self what it is about the view that is exciting and makes you want to paint it. That is what the painting is about. That is the main idea that will carry you to a successful conclusion. Is the main idea a color event, a powerful arrangement of shapes, a profound use of space, or an abstract idea? Is there an “Aha!” moment that will surprise and delight the viewer?
If the subject is simply a barn, then how can the visual language be used to capture the “barn essence”? Will the subject convey meaning to the viewer on more than just a visual level? Perhaps an emotional level?
If you are not immediately aware of an outstanding aesthetic event, you may need to dive in and start working. The best way to get to know a subject is to paint or draw it. Often, the process of painting itself – composing, mixing colors, exploring value patterns, and pushing paint around – reveals visual dynamics that were not apparent when you first saw the subject.
Subject and Vision of the Plein Air Painter
Every good painting is about something, and that “something” is more than the literal subject matter. The most exciting plein air paintings offer a unique interpretation of the world by focusing on an aesthetic experience that becomes the painting’s reason to be.
On the most basic level, every representational painting is, in part, about content and subject matter. On another level, the subject is a vehicle for the artist to explore the visual language of painting: color, composition, value, form, movement, and the paint itself. Is the subject the barn sitting at the end of a field, or is it about a color experience – a red shape poised against a green field? Which event is the dominant statement – the barn or the color experience?