Tag: impressionism

Pensees de lumiere

After much hard work I finally finished my latest Cinefield® Pensees de lumiere. While I still enjoy my past pieces, I do feel that with every one they seem to get better and better. For each piece I have a different mission. With this one I sought to make it my most rhythmically complex. For the viewer, I offer the gift of every time it is looked at new things will be noticed.

I started each session listening to specific things which in my head were in line with the piece’s density and rythmic complexity. (when one of these initial first albums ended I would vary my listening to things not on the list depending upon my mood)

Miles Davis Nefertiti

Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky boxed set

Debussy Pelleas et Melisande

The late piano works of Morton Feldman

DJ Cam Underground Vibes 30th Anniversary Edition

The way I always work for the creations of my work in this genre: I go on a photo safari. I look for a photo or two that I intuitively know will be the raw material for the Cinefield®. For any given piece I do not use more than one or two images. For this one, it was a single image. I print up a few times. Using tiny scissors I cut out equally tiny pieces from the image.

Always beforehand I have a general idea of what the piece will look like, the overall design. On a piece of heavy tan 11×17 paper I freehand draw the design. Then begins the slow task of using adhesive with a brush to the pieces which i glue down.

Not to brag (really): The design is thought out, but what piece goes where is a completely non-stop improvisation. One piece will dictate what next goes down but there is no way to prearrange anything and so every laying down is decided in that moment. Because of this I do not work top to bottom, left to right. The muscle memory for just being able lay pieces down and the fact that when cutting pieces, it’s completely abstract, is a feat. With the cutting out, it is not as if there are stated objects or shapes i.e “cut out all the circular shapes, cut out all the short buildings” etc etc. The size of each piece varies, but non would be described as larger than small. Once I am well into creating, at any given time there are multiple sheets of cut out shapes ready.

I use no digital wizardry for these and I lament the fact that in North America people are giving equal value to what is essential machine made images that a person fed some parameters to.

Pensees de lumiere 11×17 inches. (C) 2026 Wayne Wolfson not for use w/out permission

single piece (o the larger side for this!)

To Own a Cinefield® Print:

Every major city, especially in the warmer months has weekend Art & Wine Festivals. It is sort of like a farmer’s market but with kiosks of photos and etsy style nick-nacks.

Some of the photos are not bad but they are printed up by the hundreds and in multiple sizes. To buy one, if you like the image and would be happy to view it on your wall every day, that is fine. However, it is akin to buying a poster or mass produced print as can be found in World Plus Market, Pier One imports et al.

I have been selling prints of my Cinefield®. There is a difference though aside from the quality of print & frame. I am only printing up two copies and one is for my personal achieves. This is art, not mere decoration.

My site has the technical info. If you see a piece on my blog but it isn’t listed drop me a note as I have not had every single one pre-printed space being at a premium but would be happy to do so knowing one was going to a new home.

The info:

https://www.waynewolfson.com/works-for-sale

by Wayne Wolfson

Stacy Says

I am in the middle of two bigger projects, editing my novel & my latest Cinefield®. I do not have studio space to do full sized paintings. In the interim I am doing pocket pad pieces which allow me to pint without leaving palettes of paint out.

The methodology of this is different than how I usually paint and I enjoy the challange.

 Stacy Says Watercolor & Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

by Wayne Wolfson

Two Verses of a Song about a Girl

I want a discernable style but to avoid ever lapsing into mere mannerisms. To prevent this while also growing my chops, I constantly mix things up. I use different styles of paper, various pencils.

It had been a while since I used tan multi-media paper. For this piece I returned to it but in a smaller size.

Much like the motivation behind using pencil extenders, deep affection for serving the process, I enjoy the challenge of doing a smaller piece with whatever paint remains in my palettes.

Verse One Watercolor & Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

Verse Two Tan Multi-Media Paper 9×12

Always looking for interesting people to draw, email for details

by Wayne Wolfson

The Princess

My first painting of 2026. It is 9×12 Rembrandt Cotton Paper, cold pressed. For paints, I used my studio set up which is a mix of companies, all professional grade.

I am always looking for people to draw/paint. I get my share of unsolicited submissions. More important to me than “beauty” or the typical idea/portrayal of it is an emotional honesty. That allows me to convey emotions that will keep the finished work interesting in the audience’s mind, long after the viewing of it is done. It is odd when I receive photos of people in traditional academic poses or overly glammed out ones. For the academic poses, it is how one is “supposed to” learn to draw bodies & anatomy. It is a sort of trap since it is establishing a foundation within the artist which will lend an air of be stilted or overly academic in future works.

The impressionists were revolutionary not merely because of their use of colors and effects of ambient shadow and light. An equal important aspect was that they were among the first to eschew having the subject matter be historic/biblical/mythic. Instead they painted one another or friends and denizens of their neighborhood going about their daily lives. (Courbet and Millet were proto impressionists )

The lives which they conveyed when viewed now sometimes seems of another world but the canvas still radiates emotions, the beauty is not trapped under museum glass. It is because it all comes from real experiences and emotions.

For both artist and model, do what is real and the truth for you. I am fortunate to have an inner circle that trusts me and whom I have painted for years. They trust me enough to not merely give me their idealized version of themselves. I have always said that truth is beauty. This is part of an overall technique which is how I work and that many painters have utilized:

Everything for an artist is impressions which is then transmuted into expression via the work.

by Wayne Wolfson

Night Tides (for Craig “Doodlebug” Irving)

Finally finished my latest Cinefield®. For each one, my ambition is to make it better than the last in some way. In this case, it is my most rhythmically complex.

I seek to engage the viewer via creating works which offer new things to be noticed with every view. Ideally, I inspire (and maybe even awe) but if I only offer a momentary respite from the unpleasant aspects of daily life, then it’s all well worth it.

Aside from the labor intensive aspect of each Cinefield®, other information:

Each piece is comprised of one or two photos which I personally took. There is no digital magic, I use the old school method of my trusty tiny scissors and adhesive applied with brush on an 11×17 inch piece of heavy paper.

I always see the design in my head ahead of time. However, what piece is put where is in the moment improvised. I do a basic schematic on the paper the fine details reside within my inner eye. I also put a phrase which ultimately becomes hidden by the mosaic. The inspiration for this was the beautiful movie The Phantom Thread in which a master tailor did similar thing with his couture. There is such a call for meticulous detail in what I do and it’s so painstakingly executed that I have always likened it to the little old man making amazing shoes on Saville Row type of thing so these two things inspired me.

I cut up the photos into tiny, tiny pieces and they are carefully lain out on sheets. I look at the sheets as I work selecting what goes where in that moment. Do not ask me how i know, I just feel it, each selected piece seems right for where it is placed. The entire thing is very labor intensive, i see tiny paper snow flurries in my dreams often when halfway through a piece.

The work is copywritten and not for use without permission.

by Wayne Wolfson

Promise / Flowers

An amazingly busy but rewarding week. I decided to do two small paintings. My paint set up in the studio is now a mix of several companies professionally rated half pans.

Once one is at a certain point quality wise, it becomes a matter of preference which is dictated by the artist’s style but also the inherent properties of the equipment. In explaining this concept to a fellow jazz-head I gave the analogy that it is the equivalent of Miles and his horns. No matter what he played on, his distinctive voice was ever present. However, he did have certain horns he used for ballads, for cookers et al. In this way it is a collaborative effort between artist in equipment. So it is with the various papers and the set up of watercolor half pans I utilize.

Both these pieces are done on Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

by Wayne Wolfson

Annabeth / Croc Clip

Just in time to once again hit the road, I have now integrated the new paints which I had been trying out permanently into my studio & travel palettes.

Of course I have note added all of them but that is just matter of color preferences in what I use for my work. I have found that once a thing, be it whisky, paint et al is of a certain quality it is not a matter of which is better but more personal preference.

Certain brand’s colors are better for specific things than others i.e one brand’s red or pink better for base coats in showing skin while another better for showing bruises, capillaries et al.

Now that I know the new paints, i have started experimenting with them on all different types of paper.

Annabeth first time using tan paper w/my new set up. Strathmore Toned Tan Mixed Media Paper 11×14 184 lbs

Croc Clip Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

If interested in what comprises my new paints see previous four posts which give details

by Wayne Wolfson

Paris Painter II

The lighting in my new studio is different, but I feel I have a handle on it now. I am well into the swing of things. I’ve mostly been using my semi new to me pocket pad for painting. Drawings been spread out all kinds of paper. 4×4 inches

I discovered a new to me paint company. They have been around since 1830. Among many greats, Matisse and Renoir got their watercolors from them. They remain very artisan. Just looking at the paints you see the difference in pigments. They also have proprietary colors.

paints are not paints, each hue has its own distinct properties and then this varies even more from company to company.

Not knowing if I would like them, I just bought five to try. This is why on my first piece skin doesn’t have volume & mass I usually achieve. I instantly liked the paint, it handles diff than anything else I have used. Decided to go all out, new 5×7 paper, new paint.

Maestro. One my fave statues in all of Paris.

by Wayne Wolfson

Zam-Zam

This is my last painting in America for a while. It is Watercolor & French cotton paper 5×7. (As has become my practice I will use whatever paint is left in palettes to do a pocket pad piece too)

I was very pleased with how it came out.

I am always looking for interesting people to draw, feel free to email me photos (people only) if you think you may have something of interest.

Do not forget about my newest release, available in paperback & kindle:

by Wayne Wolfson

Whammer (Selfie)

Finished my painting. I had actually done a study for it beforehand which is not my usual way of working.

A bunch of us used to sit around and play games which were tied in with the life of being an artist. One was: describe your technique or mission in one sentence. For me it has always been “The gooniness of flesh”.

I want to show the heat generated by the flesh, the blood coursing below the surface, the splotches, the bruises.

Probably couched in grandeur terms, this was one aspect of the power of the work by the tronie painters as well as the mannerists painters. Even Jenny Saville’s earlier work has elements of this beauty and power.

I often do self portraits as showing myself as I am does not offend nor disappoint me as it may were it someone else emerging from my brush.

It is a truth and truth for me is always beautiful.

It is 11×17 Watercolor on tan paper.

Quick Sketch Study

Always looking for interesting things to draw/paint. Email me if you think you have something.

by Wayne Wolfson