Tag: watercolor

Selfie

There’s a long existing tradition of painters doing self-portraits. Even those who do not often do portraits but work in realistic/figurative style, over the course of their career will do a few. One reason every painter finds themselves giving it a try is that it is almost a way of proclaiming yourself a painter to the world, swearing allegiance to the process and planting your flag.

The painters who do it more regularly often have a Whitemanesque I celebrate myself, and sing myself element to it. Or as is usually the case for myself, pragmatism. Sometimes it is just easier to do a selfie. I do not need to worry about waiting around for a model, I do not need concern myself with if the light changes.

The relationship between artist and model, it is as if they are describing a person but using their words. The words in this case being the artist’s voice/style. Everyone looks different moment to moment. One looks different depending upon health, mood, location. You will look different sitting across from me in restaurant than at my side in car going down highway et al.

Cell phones have grated everyone ability to capture minutia of their lives. People have forgotten how to look at paintings. A subject or model wants to look exactly as they do in a photo. They want you to use their words to describe them so to speak and they don’t understand about the transmutable effect of time, being a different “I” from second to second as influenced by so many factors. To look exactly as one does in a photo, that is photo realism and that is a style, a genre not “the right way” over all. Very few of the immortal list of painters did photo realism. When you view their works, whether Frans Hals or Matisse, you know you are seeing a woman in a dress, you might even know who the subject is, but one is not going to study anatomy from the work nor confuse it for a photo. This is not a bad thing. Forgotten is that it was the artist’s hand, their voice in a work we treasured not merely because it looks so much like the thing.

In general I always want my portraits whether in paint or drawing to look like the subject, but ultimately it’s a flat square upon which one is creating an image which hopefully exudes at east a little something, life, emotion. Even with this goal though, I am not trying to hide that it’s not a photo. Why would I?

11×17 Tan Paper & Watercolor

by Wayne Wolfson

Going Under

When I first started seriously painting, I used a French cotton paper. I did not realize it at the time, but it is far less forgiving than the paper which I currently use (which is non-cotton).

I made the switch when the already up there price raised even more. There was much experimentation before I found the paper which became my main one.

In cleaning my tabouret draws, I came upon an unopened block of French Cotton paper. As my skill has increased from when I originally had used it, I was interested to see what I could do with it now.

My preference with cotton paper had always been cold pressed, but even with this, there is more tooth to the paper than what I currently use. This gives a sort of chunky effect when portraying flesh, watercolor impasto.

I enjoyed using this paper and I will work my way through the block but to my surprise I now prefer my current non-cotton paper. The cotton paper does not blend as easy, so getting effects I want with cotton paper will now make it “easier” with my preferred paper.

5×7 Watercolor & cotton Paper

by Wayne Wolfson

Summer III

Unintentionally, my last three paintings form a cohesive series. The news continues to be bleak. It is the responsibility of all artists to do their thing. Not necessarily art with a message but putting forth things of beauty as a reminder that there are things out there bigger than ourselves. And more importantly, not everything need be connected to a “Us versus them” issue.

As I cool down on use of some of my other social media sites I had a revelation. Just because you disagree with someone or even if they are legitimately wrong, it’s often not worth yelling back. You are not going to change hearts and minds. Even if in the right, more often than not it is just adding to the cacophony, feeding the pervading negative zeitgeist.

All art regardless of medium is a way to look towards better days, here’s hoping I see you there.

Summer III 11×17 Watercolor & Tan Paper

by Wayne Wolfson

Summer II

Blogs, social media, online news, news updates via text, it is way too easy to get caught up in doom scrolling. The seemingly reasonable assertion that to be hyper vigilant in regards to all the bad things allows one to have a hand on the wheel so to speak. While I do think it important to know what’s going on, a steady diet of the bleak and negative is not healthy for anyone. Even if unintentionally, you end up just adding to the negative. There needs to be some moments of calm, peace and the positive, otherwise what’s the point of it all?

I would like to think that at the very least my work offers a brief respite from the woes of every day life and its accompanying concerns. A moment of beauty to serve as a counter balance to the bleak and out of our control so often now a part of the news. Sometimes a way to implement change is by just engaging with the things outside of the struggle.

This is a commissioned piece.

Tan Paper & Watercolor 11×17 inches.

by Wayne Wolfson

Summer

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.

“Summer” 11×17 inches watercolor & tan paper

by Wayne Wolfson

Paris Painter

Instagram has made it so that the visual must pop, every canvas, drawing or photo the equivalent of today’s big budget movies. Eliciting ohs and also while being viewed, but ultimately forgettable. (“Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”)

Many of the greatest paintings of the 19th century were just sort melange of raw reportage/visual diary of what they painters saw on a daily basis.

Now these works are immortal. At the time, the impressionists abandoning the heroic, allegorical or mythological to portray a friend reading the newspaper, a worker having a quick eye opener before starting the day or a wife’s hat left on a chair was scandalous.

We marvel at these works not merely for the technique but also the emotions which they continue to exude. A sense of organics is a large part of how they are able to do this, still.

This has been my guide post for painting. Poetry from the seemingly mundane, A personal lexicon of what I see on a daily basis, the real.

This watercolor painting is 4×4 inches on custom cut paper for my disc system pocket pad.

by Wayne Wolfson

Dilated

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.

by Wayne Wolfson

February 3

Compulsively, I read biographies on painters/artists and movements. I never restrict myself in regards to medium nor era. I notice that starting at about the time right before the impressionists, there was a common occurrence. A lot of artists had the same life trajectory with variations according to their personal temperaments and artistic voices.

There would be the years of learning followed by chrysalises period from which they would emerge with the base of what would become their distinct individual voice. Often, this would be followed by years of trudging forward while suffering through various slings and arrows of critics and the general public.

If lucky to still be alive, then once through this phase is the first blush of fame. Often times the fame would grow but it becomes sort of a trap. An artist starts to second guess themselves trying to hold onto all their hard fought for gains. This includes the temptation and pressure to merely repeat what had brought them their initial laurels.

From an artists point of view it becomes pandering where one pantomimes the familiar as to hear applause. Galleries don’t want to risk sales by the artist striking off in new direction. There is the danger that critics won’t understand or appreciate any deviation from what they like about an artist.

Even artists who mange to navigate all of this, when you read their biographies or “the letters of” type books they all comment on the same sweet spot of their careers.

It is when enough “fame” has finally happened so that they have met all of life’s basic needs (food, clothes, shelter et al) and can buy art supplies without having to think about the impact of any purchases on the rest of their lifestyle. The long gestated voice is recognized and appreciated but not to the degree that there can be no further evolution to it.

With no distractions from practical considerations towards daily living nor external pressures of audience, gallery or critics the artist is free to explore and follow their own North star.

This golden time is too often recognized only after it has passed.

In an attempt to buck the trend I try to take advantage of it as often as possible. Aside from a way of showing appreciation for my situation, it also fosters evolution.

Rarely do I do studies before doing a painting. This time I decided to, as to play around a little with compositional balance. Also, I decided to greatly increase the size of my work from the usual 11×14 inches to 25×30. when I paint it is usually flat upon my table. Because of the size, this time it was on an easel.

I have a great, heavy wood and brass easel which could be used for massive sized pieces. As I worked on lower sections of this piece, I sat on a stool with my feet on the bottom cross bar of the easel so that it looked like I was a windsurfer.

With my paints I always use half pan sets. I had been given a few tubes as a gift and decided to use those too. they required very much a different touch.

overall, I was very pleased with the results of this piece.

by Wayne Wolfson

Hand

Hello all. This is my first painting of ’23. It took me longer to do than usual on account of the weather. I finished it with only a day and half to spare before hitting the road.

watercolor & 11×14 inch tan paper

by Wayne Wolfson

Twirl

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.

“Twirl” 11×14 toned tan 184 lb paper

by Wayne Wolfson