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

Two Dances

I am still in the midst of working on my Cinefield® and editing my novel. I have managed to work on my paintings, albeit in a very different way. As I do not have space on my painting table, I use my writing table. Since I can not have this taken over by paint palettes, I did one small thing which involved mixing only one color at a time (i.e base coat for hair, background et al) This way when I was done with the session, I could set the painting aside and not be unable to use my table. Most importantly, I was not wasting paint either.

In creating my Cinefield® works, butcher paper is rolled out onto my painting table to protect it from the glue. Every few days I have to change the paper as snow drifts of dried glue accumulate. On the days that I did this, before laying down more paper I took the morning off from Cini work and did the parts for the paintings where I had to have full palettes of paint (the skin, creating volume and mass for the flesh).

It has always been important to me to have a discernable style while avoiding lapsing into mere mannerisms. To prevent this, I present myself with challenges to keep things fresh.

Neck is 5×8 White Canson Paper. It handles very different from all the papers I have been using for a while and is also a different size. I enjoyed the challenge and was pleased with the results.

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

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

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.

2025 Fare Thee Well

Finished my latest painting “Hat”. It is a 5×7 on French Cotton paper. I tried a few new things with this one, portraying the skin in a slightly different manner than I normally do.

There is a sort of “game” on social media where one says “I will die on this hill” and it’s something small (that is the bit) but which one feels strongly about, or that drives one crazy when done a different way.

It is supposed to be whimsical but it is one of many ingredients in the current unpleasant gumbo North America finds itself mired in. While reading of the different little things people have such strong opinions on can be funny, it has also become a sort of behavioral template, a permission to rage and scream. Not everything needs to become a culture war issue nor devolve into people you do not know swearing at you or just injecting negativity into a post.

A modest proposal: Let us make 2026 a better year, even for the jerks, since to paraphrase Marcus Aurelias they are always going to be around regardless.

It is very easy to do, suck the air out of all the negative conversations & postings on places such as Twitter. You are not going to change anyone’s mind, nor are you going to prove them wrong since it shan’t be acknowledge by them. Even a person 100% in the right, yelling at someone in the wrong is only contributing to the din.

Strongly do i believe at least half the trolls if not engaged will sort of drop away. Also there is definitely a good percentage of politicians and in general creeps who do and say horrible things and when citizens and the news discuss it while showing clips of what they said, their tweets and posts et al it only keeps the things alive while also spreading its visibility.

When the Nazis were on the verge of occupying Paris, many different people wanted to get Matisse out and to a country where he would be safe. He refused to go. His view was that if he and others like him left then what were people fighting for? What would France then be without its culture?

Culture is important, it reminds one that there are things bigger and greater than the “I”. It links us all together. Even though it is comprised of different things for each of us, we all dream, love and hope. Culture is the thing in which we put all these emotions and from which we also take inspiration.

History is littered with terrible moments and culture endures during, often it shines after. Now more than ever before it is easy for one to explore new music, art and literature via online. Do not write off an unfamiliar thing as “Not my thing” without giving it a try. This is a freedom which can lead to something that adds to you, who you are what you are about.

Don’t bother telling a fool they are acting foolish, don’t let a troll make your blood pressure rise, instead use the time to check out some new things. Like Matisse, I will stay here, brush in hand.

Happy & Healthy New years to all

Photos by me emblematic of my ’25

2025:

Frisky Koi

I am deep into working on my novella. I have been painting and drawing only as I can not split my concentration to the degree that my Cinefield® requires.

Excitingly, in a little under a week I will find myself on the road again for a short trip to collect raw materials (photos) for my next Cinefield® work.

Here are recently done drawings. They are all executed quickly. A methodology I heard about via a book on Matisse which has served me well:

Do drawings as fast but accurately as possible. If one can capture the essence of a thing or spirit of a person via quick execution, then it becomes easier when going slowly drawing/painting.

On a personal level I also have learned to work fast as I never want to be lumped in with the “writers” and “artists” one sees in Starbucks et al, where it is more a performative thing than actually doing work. Yes, yes we see you, you are writing. Ok settle down Tarantino….

Most of my drawing and Lyra pieces are done in Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

Wishing all a Happy Holidays!

Menagerie

Drawing is the basis of art. A bad painter can’t draw, but one who draws well can always paint. Arshile Gorky

Drawing is the intellectual basis for painting. Matisse

As I continue to work on my novella & paint, i also draw daily. This always gives me great joy. It need not be a work others will see nor even one i will keep. A pencil nubbin on a scrap of paper, serving the process in this humble way excites me as much as one of my serious framed works.

I have a mission in what I want to do, convey emotions so that the viewer comes away feeling something. However, there are not specific parameters of what I will draw/paint to meet this goal.

I prefer the real, which to me is always beautiful, over the conventional notion of beauty. I am fortunate to have a stable of people who model for me, trusting me so that what I get is not the studied, academic poses but rather the more real.

Mostly I used Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches This is a mix of pencil pieces and water soluble graphite.

The Mark & Gerd

As I am in the middle of writing my next novella, sometimes I day dream which is an articulation of extraneous ideas that I will not use as to be able to concentrate better.

I day dream as I clean my studio. There’s a vague idea that I have had of an artist who has all the equipment he needs to do his thing and in variety. In his mind’s eye, this makes him “rich” as he let’s slip at a bar (This leads to trouble).

When I first started doing visual work, I used the pages of the newspaper (for the youngsters: this was like a twitter news feed but accurate and truthful, made from thin slices of a tree, which showed up on your doorstep every morning) I used black and red markers as to be able to see my drawings.

I then graduated to blocks of cheap paper filling every page on both sides.

Slowly, I worked my way towards legitimizing the need of good equipment. Initially, i was thrifty out of necessity, i.e using pencil extenders as to squeeze every drop out of a pencil.

Fast forward, I can now afford whatever I want for equipment, i can buy things merely to experiment with etc. I still use pencil extenders and observe other economical practices, not because I have to or even because I am cheap. It is a sign of deep affection for serving the process.

When working on a painting, the amount of paint which I use at most only takes up two ten slotted porcelain palettes. Not much but I often find myself when a painting is completed with a little bit paint remaining.

I started the practice of doing a smaller painting with remaining paints in my trusty Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches. Nothing is wasted and it often presents some manner of stimulating challenge for me. It’s my version of what great chefs like Paul Bocuse did in their every part of the animal philosophy.

The Mark Watercolor & Rembrandt 9×12 cold pressed fin paper

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

Ma Joie

Still deep into working on my latest Cinefield®. Locked into a groove, my studio has been overrun by sheets of paper upon which rests tiny confetti like pieces of paper.

In the interim, I continue to draw every night. I have mainly been using my trusty Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches while also finishing the other pads in varying states of completion I have on my desk.

Here are some of what I have been doing, the joy for me serving the process even if only with a pencil nubbin on a scrap piece of paper:

In case you missed it I got a nice showcase which goes into my modus operandi:

Song About a Girl #957

Just back from a trip where I was able to take photos to serve as fuel for my next Cinefield®. I lucked out and was able to get so much raw material it will allow me to do two which will lead me right up until next spring ( I won’t work on them back to back, taking a well needed break between which accounts for some of time frame)

While working on my Cinefield®, of course I will still draw every day and do my water soluble graphite work in pocket pads but this will be last painting for a while as my studio will become dominated by tiny confetti like pieces of paper laid out on sheets.

For this piece I wanted to try something a little different. I made the flesh appear without the volume and mass letting the lines tell that story of the body. I was very pleased with the results and enjoyed the challenge of going against my usual preference. That is one way for an artist to avoid falling back on pet-licks for a piece.

9×12 Rembrandt cold pressed paper 140lb