Tag: Miles Davis

New Licks

David Hockney just passed away. He had works which I admired but he also had things which by general opinion didn’t hit the mark. That is fine, it doesn’t detract from the powerful works. Regardless of medium, one of components of what makes an artist great is growth/evolution and the willingness to continue to explore and take chances.

In the age of social media the personal goal of an artist has now become “fame”, to have a high number count on social media. Regardless of era and medium the true first goal of an artist is to create an individualized voice which emanates from their work.

I want a voice, a style but to never lapse into mere mannerism. One way to avoid this is to constantly challenge myself, using different paper, different pens different sizes of paper and even switching between mediums. To some extent always be one part student, one part explorer

Randomly, I decided to try my hand at soft oil pastels. Like everything I do, i am self taught. I enjoyed the medium and right out of the gate got some of the effects which I had in mind. In two days I did five pieces, all 5×5 or 5×7 inches.

For any work, an artist’s voice i s ever present but medium does to some extent dictate the cadence. Miles had certain horns which he only used for ballads. I always see a piece done in specific medium before even starting. The pastels gave me an expressionistic density different from my painting and different from my lyra works. i like all the mediums and will continue to switch between them as to continue to evolve. I was pleased with the results but am also sure as I continue to use the pastels I will get even better.

First

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

Dear Diary II

I have started another painting. This one is on French cotton paper. Between rain and general dampness in the air, the weather has not been obliging me. I have had to takes days off.

In the interim, as usual I draw while working more on my next collection of stories & essays.

Here are a selection of quick sketches & musings done over past week.

“M” quick Lyra piece 5×7

Idea & quick sketch pencil & newsprint paper

Fish heads for the broth

3×5 pocket pad Miles

Christmas gift to myself in case I only get coal

by Wayne Wolfson

The Caketts: a retrospective

It’s that time a year again. I am lucky enough to get a birthday cake from The Caketts. Music remains my main source of inspiration and outside of serving the creative process, my main passion.

Every year the cake is musically themed. I have no say in what it will be, although obviously it’s music I like.

The first cake I ever got was reproducing The Rolling Stone’s Let It Bleed album cover but with cats replacing the lads.

One eats with their eyes first. Aside from that obvious pleasure, the cakes themselves are very good. The flavors are always unique. This year’s (Miles Davis/Gil Evans Sketches of Spain album cover) was a Manhattan flavored cake. With the bits of bourbon macerated cherry to be found within combining with everything else going on, the cake was patisserie-decadent enough to easily be expected to be found in Vienna.

Everything is made from scratch, no prebought sheet cakes, no stencils. Even all frostings are made by hand, nothing shooting out of plastic tubes, aisle five thank you kindly.

These are all the cakes over years so far, in order. (W/later cakes my name is watermarked on photo. This might seem overly cautious but w/first photos i Put up of a cake, people just put it on their Instagram w/no attribution where it garnered thousands of views. Insult to injury, in one case, person who reposted knew me but w/pic put that they forgot where they had come across this. In general, if you didn’t create it ask person who did. Or at very least, link to their site. It’s basically stealing other wise.)

Frank Zappa Live @ Odeon album cover

by Wayne Wolfson

End of Year

Last drawing of ’19. New Year’s Eve.

“You cool?”

“I’m cool baby.”

“Cool??”

“Like Miles at the  Isle Wight Festival.”

The sirens screamed but now it was not a song for me.

W.Wolfson’19

 

9×12 Quick sketch

20200101_080359

by Wayne Wolfson

Trumpets

I am near on obsessive in exploring properties of different equipment & materials I use for my art. This is one way of avoiding repeating myself or having the process, which in itself brings me great joy, from becoming mechanical.

There is the preferred equipment & materials I use but i constantly break things up. I utilize paper & pencils of drastically different quality over the course of my weekly woodshedding. The challenge of working with not so great paper or pencils makes it so that when i use my ideal it is easier. It also allows me to work under any conditions and to even improvise at a moment (in a bar, cafe or party) when I had no intention of doing so to good results.

The most important aspect for me in not being rigidly locked down in how i create is that I want a recognizable voice but to never slip merely into mannerism(s).

With my painting, for every piece i switch off the size and style of paper. It keeps me engaged in the work and far from mannerisms.

With Miles, he sounded great regardless of which of his trumpets he used. However, he did have certain trumpets he would use for specific pieces.  Of course he could have used any trumpet for any song and sounded great but he felt that although his voice was ever present when playing, each trumpet had its own properties which it injected into the overall feel of the song.

So it is for me with the paper I use for painting. Different paper has inherent properties which add a component to the work. My voice is always there but effected to a certain degree by the medium.

Even with knowing this, I do not change my method of which paper I use. There is specific rotation regardless of which I feel is best for portraying flesh etc. This too is a nice challenge and discipline which I find invaluable.

 

 

“Hommage John Lurie” 9×12 Canson Multi Media Papper 98LB

“Foot Brace” 7×10 French Cotton Paper

by Wayne Wolfson