Tag: impressionistic

Three Ladies, Two Mediums

Been hard at work with various projects. I have continued to delve into the pastel medium. Slowly, I am making the original set i bought disappear, then I will try another brand.

There has been a big scandal recently about a well known author whose latest book was a thinly veiled character assassination of a famous actress. To her surprise, she has had very few defenders. An initial defense that she offered up was along the lines of the book not merely being a take down as to write a book requires time sacrificed from other things and effort. Why would someone put their life on hold merely to inflict pain or criticize?

With literature, there can occur slaps, bite-backs etc but if the point of the work is not entirely to harm, then these aspects are tempered by everything else going on within the book. For painting and drawing, the medium makes everything more immediate and there can be no interweaving of a negative and other things as to temper it. You can not do a painting which incorporates an insult/criticism with other things.

Unless a political cartoon type of thing, i do not know any visual artist who would use the currency of their time creating a work to serve merely as a weapon to inflict harm.

Social media has become so fantasy based, idealized versions of people smiling from staged settings, that to present someone as they are is now often not seen as a good thing.

This is why I often prefer to portray myself or members of my informal little troop, there is a trust in what I am doing. And the understanding of my philosophy, truth is beauty.

Nat 5×7 watercolor & Paper

Mar 4×4 Multi-Media Pocket pad

Helen 5×7 Pastel paper & Soft Oil Pastel

by Wayne Wolfson

Pastels

I continue to delve into pastels. The medium is similar to painting but also different. Every medium has its inherent properties and then within the medium different companies equipment has it’s own voice too.

Both pieces are on 5×7 multi media paper

L

MH

spontaneous pics by me as i worked:

A brief word about AI/co-piolet et al:

An aged rocker from the sixties was asked their opinion on writing a song w/ A.I. To paraphrase he said “Well, I guess it is all right so long as they are the one writing the song.” That is not how it works, but being of an older generation & famous chances are, tech is not as necessary part of their life as a regular Joe a few decades younger. It is safe to assume that he lumped it in with email and social media, a new thing he uses a little, often via personal assistant.

AI does not create anything, it collects existing things that others made and Frankensteins them into an often cheesy looking thing. With Co-Piolet whoever decided to name that version of AI that was savvy. I see many authors put an image done with co-piolet up and they will say “It is a creation, i set the parameters.” So if you say “I want to see a rainy street in Paris” or “I want an empty dock overlooking a bay at sunset.” you still have not created anything, a machine then hunts for components other people made and constructs a thing.

For those who have tenuous grasp on the tech a broad example:

You invite friends over for an Italian dinner. You then proceed to go to various neighbors homes who are just sitting down to dinner and you take things off of each table without permission and bring them back to your place as to put it all together for your Italian meal. Just because you named the style of meal does not mean anything, it consists of all stolen things others cooked.

The shame of it is, there are so many good artists out there who would probably gladly lend an image in exchange for credit and link back to their site. If you are a band, an author, anyone who needs to marry an image to what they are doing, take a minute away from self promoting and do a search for artists on any platform, drop them a line.

by Wayne Wolfson

Pastels

As I get closer to the release of my next story/essay collection I have continued to explore pastels. I have done about nine of them in-between my painting and drawing. I enjoy the medium and each one is better than the last. I am still in my naissance and so have not even begun to explore the different types of papers & pastel companies yet.

I will be systematic about it first using up what I have then furthering my explorations.

Soundtrack as I worked:

Verdi Aidia (Toscanini conducting RCA Red Seal)

Duke Ellington Ellington Uptown

Miles Davis Black Beauty Live at the Filmore

El Jazz y Chapo Echoes from Another Cosmogony

Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky

Doodlebug TV (of Digable Planets) on youtube

All Pastel 5×7

Campanelle

by Wayne Wolfson

July Fourth

I am about a week or two away from my next short story collection coming out. As usual I continued to paint and now, further delving into pastel medium.

For my paintings, I usually do them in twos and one always in my trusty pocket pad.

Chloe 5×7

Not Shy II 4×4 pocket pad

Fourth of July Prayer

Thomas Paine, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Alan Poe, Jelly Roll Morton, Lois Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Bourbon, Rye, Jazz, Stetson Hats, Skyscrapers, Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Bill Finger, Zippo Lighters, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Kodak, Coca Cola, Baseball, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Muhamad Ali, Rap, Hip-hop, New School of Journalism, Chuck Berry, Bo Didley, Fats Domino, Blue Jeans, The Automat, Bob Dylan, Noir films, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, Edward R Murrow, Gene kelly, Fred Astaire, Harley Davidson, Maverick Directors of the 1970’s, Patti Smith, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, New York School of Painters, Andrew Wyeth, Dashiell Hammett, Jim Thompson, Edward Hopper, Hedy Lamar, Louise Brooks, Carole Lombard, John Lewis, MLK, Rosa Parks, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Golden Age comics, Robert Williams, Blue Note Records, Pinball Machines, Judy Blume, Fred Rogers, Life Magazine,

Our differences are our strengths. Until we drop the pervading tribalism and fear from being prime motivations for our actions, we will continue to be a shadow of what we had been and what we can still be. This limitless potential is another strength.

It is up to all of us. And, this is perhaps the one remaining aspect, for now, of our former Greatness.

W.Wolfson July 4,

by Wayne Wolfson

Kubla Khan’s Dance Off

I just finished reading Jean Paul Sartre’s essay on Baudelaire. While I didn’t agree with everything he said, it was very enjoyable. Baudelaire very much lived a solipsistic life. As I am not a huge fan of his work and knowing history of France during his era, I think to some extent his attitude was to the determent of his art.

It definitely can be no fun, you go to a concert and in-between songs as you wait to hear a favorite the singer starts preaching or having the work in service of specific message for an artist’s entire oeuvre.

However, it is also weird to be living through turbulent times and make no comment upon them ever. Like most important things in life, there is a delicate balance.

Previously, I have made comments, so and my mission is humanistic not political. I will only say now that I hope my work serves as a brief respite from all daily troubles and bleak news we all must deal with.

Edie Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

Sun Hat 5×7 Paper

by Wayne Wolfson

Two Works

I had been talking to someone about what appears in my works. More often than not it is someone from my inner circle or a thing from my life not staged but as is (a shirt hanging off the back of a chair, a demi tasse with its dregs offering up a fortune-tell). What had made the impressionists radical more than the naturalism of how they portrayed color/shadow/light was their portrayal of people and things.

In lieu of the typical historical and mythological subject matter were people from their lives and every day objects. Back then, this was more radical than it seems now.

There is a weird dichotomy with painting now though. We accept the everyday as subject matter but also because of movies & television, expect things connected with painting whether it is a work’s creation or the painter having a chop bump up to be dramatic, moviesque.

Half-pan watercolors at least for me with the exception of the few colors I use in every piece, last me. Often I would finish a piece and have paint left in my palettes. I started doing smaller pocket pad pieces with what was left. There were few motives behind this.

It is sort of pagan, my way of honoring/offering up thanks to the process I will spend my life happily serving. This (at least in my mind) is akin to when Romans would offer sacrifice before or after a journey or successful battle. I have the money and it’s not cost prohibitive to just dump what little paint is left each time out, although cumulatively it would add up. This is my version of the great chefs who have the “use every part of the animal” philosophy.

I have my methodology down, I do pencil for both paintings, the start to work on the larger first. With these two, I had only done the smaller as I had been in middle of final edits for my next story collection. I finished, very pleased, and then realized that I had given no thought to the second painting.

With the luxury of no deadline nor expectations I decided to experiment and do second piece radically different in every way. I used bigger paper which I randomly grabbed out of a tabouret, I worked on it in completely different way. These challenges created by leaving the comfort zone of the established are a way to foster growth & chops.

When I first started doing the water soluble graphite works, it added to my painting and then it ping-ponged where that medium was added to by painting. I recently took up pastels and although I am still very new to that, I see some added technique to my painting. That and this spontaneous challenge have definitely added to my painting even if not necessarily apparent to the viewer.

“Not Shy” Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

“Magic” (selfie) 5×5 inches

by Wayne Wolfson

Three at the Party

As I continue to edit my novel I have been able to go back to painting. As has always been the case, I like to mix it up a little as to avoid stagnation. This is achieved by giving myself little challenges, different types and sizes of paper and in this case for the second and third painting, only using paint left in the palettes.

Myself 5×8 cold pressed watercolor paper with my normal studio paint set up

Truth or Dare I used my ever present Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

Sandy I used my ever present Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

Spontaneous pic

by Wayne Wolfson

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

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