Archive for January, 2012
Finishing My Abstract Paintings
Work needed to be done on some of my latest paintings to finish them. The last abstract painting, “Bubbles,” needed to have the white painted around the edges and a signature in order to be finished. I now have done that.
For the new painting which was begun last Wednesday, I repainted most of it because the paint, when dry, was just too sparse. Along one corner I tried to make it appear as if there were pipes or tubes with rounded surfaces. That’s difficult in acrylics because blending is not easy. It’s much easier to blend when working in oils. Anyway, I finished all that, but still have the finishing marks to add and a signature. Hopefully, I’ll post it tomorrow or soon.
Judging Landscape Paintings
Damar Minyak, of Kansas City (area), MO, wrote a response to the January 20, 2012 newsletter written by Robert Genn, Canadian landscape painter. It touched me because I feel very much the same way.
“History has shown that those who set themselves up as arbiters of “proper art” are wrong, almost 100% of the time. Consider as the prime example, the Impressionists, who set themselves up because the museums and “art experts” of their day refused their products. Today, it seems, almost everybody wants to pretend to the title “neoimpressionist” or “post impressionist” or “non-impressionist”, or whatso-everist. Judged shows usually mean “It all has to look like our stuff.” Virtually all of the artists I respect were the renegades of their periods. So, it remains, for my contemporaries. Being told I’m not doing it correctly just makes me smile, and say, ‘Thank you!’ “
The Landscape Painter Visits a Museum
Today: a couple of quotes. The first is by Robert Genn, Canadian landscape painter, from his newsletter last week.
“If a brilliantly good artist happens to live just down the street, his top-up of your efforts may be hard to take. That’s why it’s good to check out dead artists. The dead guy won’t let you take him to dinner or tell you, ‘There’s something wrong with that mouth,’ as several of our subscribers did with my painting of Mel, but he can show you stroke by stroke how things might be. Cruising your eyes over someone else’s work in silence and with respect may be the next best thing to struggling on your own. Art museums help artists realize they’re never truly alone.”
“The way to understand painting is to go and look at it. And if out of a million visitors there is even one to whom art means something, that is enough to justify museums.” (Pierre-Auguste Renoir)
Abstract Art Class – Winter 2012 – #3
Since yesterday I repainted the dark green to a lighter green on my abstract painting and changed one dark green circle to yellow. Everyone in class liked the white edge, so all I have to do is sign it. Oh – it really looks great hanging on a corner with the big blue circle down! Great for a kid’s room!
We used an interesting way to create an abstract painting today. Teacher gave us 3 x 5 cards with a rectangle cut out to use as a view finder and we looked at a variety of photos of paintings. The object was to use the viewfinder to eliminate all but a small area and move it around until we found a pleasing abstract. Then paint it as we saw it or alter it as we liked. Now, how easy is that for finding inspiration for a panting?
Abstract Painting from Lesson #2
Teacher gave us a sheet of paper with 12 design types of abstract paintings and our assignment was to create a painting using one of those designs. I decided to use Circles because I just think they are fun. I found some lids, plates and cups usable for templates and drew a variety of overlapping circles. The next step was to erase the pencil marks. A previous time I had used pen and was unable to cover the pen marks. This time I not only erased the not needed pencil marks, I covered those areas with gesso. Gesso works as well as white paint and is less expensive. I seem to have a lot of trouble with lines showing through.
The attached photo showed my creation, but the dark green was too dark after applying many layers to get the paint uniform. I decided to use a lighter green, but rather than apply it directly onto the dark green, I covered the dark green with gesso and then painted with a lighter green and changed one circle to yellow. There is still one more question: Should I leave the outside white? I’ll get that answered tomorrow in class and keep you posted on the final painting.
Abstract Painting from Lesson #1
The point of the lesson was to change the shapes seen in a photo. Stretch some, diminish or eliminate others and come up with an abstract painting. The attached abstract painting was done from the inspiration of a table set for dinner. The painting was painted inverted from the way it is shown here. The original photo showed fish on a platter, a bottle of wine at upper right, two glasses, and a basket with apples in the upper left of the photo. The tablecloth was white and the background black.
With alterations, the plate became enlarged, the fish became the long pink stripe, the neck of the bottle became the yellow stripe, the wine glasses are now two blue ovals and the basket might still be somewhat recognizable. The apples are pink circles. The black circles were added to hide an error, but did add some bling. Finally, it looked better hanging the way I have posted it!
Selling Landscape Paintings (Again)
Last week, Pat Weekley of Clovis, New Mexico wrote Robert Genn, Canadian landscape painter, about trying to sell art in Clovis. The art league members had conducted an auction with wine and cheese and other goodies on a day with perfect weather. Few people came and several art pieces sold for less than the cost of framing.
Genn’s answer was to note that Taos and Santa Fe are known for fine art. If the folks want it known that there is good art in Clovis, they must make better art. They must make art so good that collectors in their Caddies and Lincolns would come – and bring their own wine and cheese! Many readers gave quite good suggestions also, but the bottom line always was that the artists in Clovis needed to make better art!
Abstract Art Class – Winter 2012 – #2 (2)
The lesson today was on Design Composition. Teacher gave each of us a sheet of paper with 12 designs for abstract art – probably the only different kinds of design formats possible. For each there was an example of the basic design and a painting using that format. For me, some were easy to see, some, not so much.
The Cruciform, Horizontal, Vertical and Diagonal formats were easy to see. The Cantilever and Golden Section (at the crossed lines of a tic-tac-toe game) formats looked similar in the paintings. The Constellation format was a series of mostly dots, a little heavier on one side than the other, perhaps shaped like a spiral. Meander was more like brush strokes all over the canvas (think Jackson Pollack). Curves was shown by overlapping circles or spheres, Overlapping Frames was overlapping squares and rectangles, some just outlined, some colored. Tension showed imbalance, large on one side, small on the other. Spiritual showed an equilateral triangle within a circle. Your challenge: Try to think up something different!
Abstract Art Class – Winter 2012 – #2
Last week teacher promised to show us a method of creating texture in abstract paintings and she began the class with this demonstration. We will put tissue paper on canvas or on 140# or 250# watercolor paper and she passed around samples of each for us to feel. She also folded the 140# paper to show that 2 or 3 foldings are necessary in order to tear it successfully. Also a little water on the edge weakens it making it easier to tear.
When applying tissue to paper or canvas always use craft tissue, not the tissue used for gift wrap. Apply a coat of matte medium to the paper or canvas, wad up a sheet of tissue and put it on the surface, allowing it to wrinkle in many directions. Be sure to cover the entire surface, using more tissue as needed. Using the matte medium again, paint over the entire surface, pasting down any loose parts. Put it in the sun to dry and it is ready for paint.
Selling Landscape Paintings
More and more artists are their own best handlers. They manage their distribution, their retail prices and their futures. Some of the current artists have closed out dealers altogether and make a handsome living selling on eBay and other inexpensive venues.
“Consignment is by far the best system,” says Robert Genn, Canadian landscape painter. “An artist’s efforts can be taken back and moved to other galleries – perhaps to ones with a more favorable commission structure.”
Particularly since the 2008 financial shakedown, Genn said he noticed that a lot more art buyers are contacting artists directly. Internet savvy and well-informed, they are people who seldom go to commercial galleries, but have a particular desire to get to know artists. They are not necessarily looking for deals. It may be that more people are trying to “think smart” these days and are like those who do their own research and buy stocks and bonds online. Maybe individual empowerment and self-management are the new normal.