If you look at some paintings & drawings by both Matisse and Picasso, they are child like. This is not a pejorative term though. When Matisse painted his wife reclining on couch, you knew you were seeing a woman in kimono on couch but one would never study anatomy via this type of piece, it was not (hyper) realism.
Emotion ruled out over technique.
Picasso would occasionally lay on the floor and paint with his children. There is a purity in when a child does art, they do not get hung up on rules and restrictions. He wanted to capture a spark from this.
Both men had said something along the lines of an artist should create with the seriousness of a child at play.
I had read some biographies where burgeoning painters at young ages were given blocks of cheap paper to let loose on. This was a sort of test by parents, the paper was inexpensive so if the child gave up, as children sometimes do with things which they show initial enthusiasm for, it would be no big deal.
Impulsively, while restocking needed art supplies, I bought myself a block of cheap newsprint paper.
I am currently working on my next short story/essay collection and a small painting.
A for fun project, I decided to do a page or two every day in this block, but each piece had to be loose. It’s just daily doodles 9×12 newsprint paper. I am earnest in this, like a child.
compulsively, I read biographies on artists of every medium & era. I will even delve into people who are not my usual thing which has more than once made me become a fan. There is a commonality which transcends both nation and decade, that of practicality initially dictating artistic direction/materials & methodology.
The Impressionists are mainly talked about in relation to how they used color and lighting effects. Their importance was not just their revolutionary portrayal of light as it effected perception though. Before them, some painters had started breaking away from the pervading “must” of people being heroically portrayed ala history/myth/allegory (Courbet & Millet had started towards more naturalized milieu) they were the first to fold it into their works wholesale.
People were portrayed having an eye opener in a cafe before work, dirty nails, bad skin. Objects were portrayed in natural positions, a wife’s hat left atop a shrub, detritus atop a studio table waiting to be swept with forearm into the trash.
Part of the reason for this all was practicalities sake. Models could not always be afforded and it was easier using friends and family to pose, especially as scheduling could prove to be more convenient and often all it cost was to eventually return the favor.
These things would be enfolded into the methodology of their work and then honed. After this point, it was became their lexicon.
The same thing happened with Picasso/Braque cubist still lives, it was just things they had laying around which were part of their every day lives. Money need not be spent on flowers or any other kind of specialty objects. The only downside to this was that by the time Picasso was moving on from cubism, cubist paintings by participators in the genre more often than not had “required” objects to be included which had initially made appearances in a natural manner due to pragmatism.
Practicality is often an important initial dictator of choices an artist makes, but once the path chosen is felt to be the right one, a philosophy sprouts up. Like the methodology, it is ready to be honed, its articulation, whether to the public or just in the artist’s head, fine tuned.
The Italian painter Giorgi Morandi rarely left his city of Bologna, Italy (only three times, much later in life and then only briefly). He did not portray life in his home city but was fueled by it. He mainly did still lives. Most of these were of bottle which had just been laying around. A cursory look at his work and they seem deceptively simple. There is no bursting forth virtuosic moments to be found in his work. What makes them remarkable is that they very much look like every day objects imbued with organically occurring poetry.
A generation later and half a world away, Henry Virgona worked along a similar philosophical line. He kept the same 300 square foot Union Square studio for fifty nine years (sadly, ending in 2019). He rarely traveled, preferring to stay within the confines of the city whose fabric he was very much part of. He did still lives which showed him to be the artistic son of Morandi. He was an accomplished draftsman and this urban Antaeus did amazing candid drawings of all the people that he encountered in his daily city life, their natural poses maintain the power of the pieces. Two men, one mainly using objects, the other, people encountered every day, both showing inherent natural beauty of regular life.
I had already hit upon my philosophy and modus operandi before discovering Henry’s work. We definitely have marked differences, some of which could be generational. It is inspiring though, to see that one’s idea of serving the process is not completely out of left field but rather an evolved link in a chain which goes way back.
Most of what I work in and how I work all started out from practical considerations. I mainly use people in my life in some manner as models for convenience’s sake. When no one is around, I will paint or draw whatever catches my eye which is right in front of me. I too go for the beauty which organically comes through in every day objects or scenes.
One of my greatest pleasures in life is to conjure up, even if only with a pencil nubbin and scrap paper, either something I am seeing or talking about.
I was at a concert and observed various moments where, as much as I was enjoying the music, got caught up in people watching. Doing a sort of raw-visual-reportage after the fact, I caught the moment in a bigger sized for me piece. Aside from the size of the piece, another departure for me was the fact that I did a few studies as I wanted the crowd scene to be accurate and maintain a certain degree of looseness which already having knowledge of positioning and compositional balance would help with.
There’s been much talk lately of the negative effect on teens body images via social media. I do not disagree with this. However, the internet has always had a tenuous grasp on reality. People of every age add filters to their face/body when posting photos, all kinds of other tweaks. Then there is the side-stand duckbill face, the de rigueur for an entire generation of women when doing selfies. Eventually. this pose and look will be viewed with same amusement as footage from bygone eras where men’s hair is overly brill creamed to the point of looking plastic.
To me, the truth has always been beautiful. The truth is unavoidable too. One can apply as many filters as are available but at some point you are going to have to go out in the real world as you really are. These things, the importance of trends et al, only have the power of the importance which we give them.
The beauty of truth is why I largely prefer to use subjects (friends et al) that I know for my work. The trust placed in me means that they can relax, eschewing any overly academic or glam poses. Even after all this time, one of my greatest pleasures is to portray flesh via paint. Sometimes, I still feel like the musician marveling at the notes that they are making.
I have been taking some short trips which was impetus behind doing a smaller painting. Even with it being small, bad weather made me have to put it aside after only being quarter of the way done as I hit the road.
This smaller size had long been my preferred size until I found myself switching to 11×14. Trips longer than three day and I will paint. So, it is good to once again get back into smaller pieces as that is what I will do on the road.
Often I use myself as the subject of my work. If not my face, then my hands or some other bodily part. This is for convenience’s sake. It is nice to start a work when I want to or to stop as i mull a line over. Throwing someone else into the mix, this is not always as easy. There is a pleasure in that it also puts me in the grand tradition of painters showing themselves in their work.
I am not ashamed to portray myself as I am. There is no idealization. It’s almost a form of visual raw reportage. I take the same approach when conjuring up someone else. In one of the later Truffaut films from his The Adventures of Antoine Doinel cycle, one of the characters mentions in passing how an artist should never use their craft to settle scores. This has always been my outlook. Regardless of how a subject looks in comparison to the notion of desirability, for me, truth is always beauty.
This piece is 5×7. I am pleased with how the sort of goonyness of flesh comes across.
In-between bouts of atmospheric river storms I was able to hit the road. Although not with the same ferocity as at home, the rain followed me. This was OK as it was a short trip and I had already envisioned only having time to do my nightly woodshedding sketches and maybe a lyra piece or two.
I was to be flying home into yet another storm! My flight was delayed most of the afternoon. I sat at the terminal becoming newly crowned crossword king.
While sending out texts to everyone to let them know that I was delayed but all right, I snapped a quick selfie.
Lately a lot of my painting have been on tan paper and 11×17. This piece is white Canson paper 5×7
I had gotten this great pair of gloves right before the pandemic which sat in their cool little case for so long that I had forgotten about them. Going through my clothes, I came across them, still patiently waiting to be worn out.
This is a selfie on tan paper. New gloves & coat.
11×14 inches watercolor & tan paper
Rarely do I promote my for sale things be it my books or visual works. I want an audience and not customers. Personally, I also find it a turn off to want to see what an artist you are interested in is up to and every post ends w/a sales pitch. However, we are in the gift giving season. I have some art for sale. Have a peek. (these are truly limited, not merely sales pressure verbiage)
I currently have a few projects going, including a unique sized CINEFIELD® from paper I cut down myself. It’s taking slightly longer than expected as I am trying several new things. Even with all going on, I still draw & woodshed every night.
Lyra graphite sticks have become a favorite medium. It allows for painterly effects and a touch not dissimilar to that of watercolor. I am into all the mediums which I use, but my favorite two are drawing and painting. The Lyra pieces combine aspects of both of these mediums.
This was a small piece of multi medium paper. It’s close up of Jimi Hendrix. I enjoyed doing an unorthodox compositional balance in 3×5 inches
I used a toned tan paper for this painting. It requires a slightly different touch as it’ heavier than my usual paper. I am grateful for the trust put in me by my models (mostly friends & acquaintances) . This allows for a relaxed attitude in posing, the mien organic and revealing a truth.
I have been unexpectedly tied up with various things. Even with a full tilt boogie schedule, I draw or woodshed every day. All the various mediums which have become synonymous with me I fell into by complete happenstance while exploring. Each of these things, no longer new to me, I miss if I got too long without doing (or should I say crave?). My next big project is a large painting. While I can’t start it yet, I get the same pay off emotionally/intellectually/spiritually doing Lyra pieces. Although monochrome, they have a painterly feel to them and the touch required in making them is similar. An additional plus is, if I can achieve the desired feel utilizing only one color, then when using my paints proper, it feels easier.
All pieces are 5×7 inches.
A Pal of mine is doing great concert for those of you in the UK. Highly recommend
