Tag: writing

Two Songs About Two Women

I went through some of the tabourets in my studio, not that they were in any sort of major disarray. It was more a tightening up of the organization and despite how much I shake things up as to remain limber in using different types of paper I knew there were some pads which lay in the drawers forgotten about.

After the brief time it took to reorganize, randomly I grabbed a pad. A 9×12 which is not a size I often use and which looked squatter than its measurements. Foer both pieces I used my usual studio set up of half pan paints.

NH 9×12 Watercolor & Paper

Mumbai. (She was also from Mumbai but did not merely play at being a DJ & good person.) Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

Advice to artists you prob. don’t want to hear:

Any artist, especially one just starting out on their journey wants validation. To have someone who is not a friend nor family accept a work provides sort of boost. It assuages the doubt that one will be able to “make it” as an artist and also provides a safety barrier from the naysayers.

However, there are a lot of online journals and blogs out there which simply look terrible. Artists still place their works on them as it is a sort of validation. This always surprises me. An online journal/blog which looks terrible is akin to going into a restaurant which has a bad smell.

An insult to injury is the new trend of a lot of these wanting a submissions fee or asking to “buy me a koffi”. You would be better served just doing your own thing under your own power. Often the fee is explained as you are paying for the venues bandwidth or maybe the editor’s time in choosing who will appear. The reality of this is you are paying for validation, the venue’s money is made from the fees collected. You are paying for the “honor” of temporarily working for the venue.

Do your own thing. It may not feel as good or exciting for the ego but most of these online journals no one has heard of anyways and the decisions makers behind them often have no or little foundation.

There are some good journals to be found out there still, they are not all crap just dont depend upon them for validation.

Furious Pure is good, editors who are articulate and serious and diverse talent too. (disclaimer I was featured in issue 8 but I will continue to read each new issue)

by Wayne Wolfson

Three in the Game

It has always been of interest to me how the media (television & movies) portray what encapsulates the life of an artist, in any medium. Now, it has been reduced down to all tropes and often one of two types of narratives.

A musician in some prestigious venue pressing forehead against wall in a dressing room as the crowd roars their name. And then the story slingshots back to them as a child starting out and you watch how they came to that moment. The movie ends back again in the present with them opening the dressing room door.

Or, someone who is slightly different from everyone else, children on a playground playing in a scrum while one little boy is off by himself doodling or taking notes. You then see this outsider stick to his guns and in the end gets the girl, gets some acceptance from society in general and walks by shop window with their book prominently displayed or perhaps walks down vast stone steps of a museum the camera pulling back to show a banner with their name on it.

An artist’s life is always portrayed in this manner as you would loose the audience if it was largely them standing in front of an easel or sitting at a desk doing their thing hours on end in solitude, which is far closer to the reality but lacking in outward drama.

Some of my friends have children now of age where they have to start seriously thinking of what they want to do, if not when they grow up, then at least to focus on for uni.

“Maybe tell them a little bit about what the life of an artist is like?”

It sounds corny but it is a calling. There is no “making it” as is conceived in the minds of anyone who has ever watched a bio pic. You feel good and you are working, you are feeling sick or sad or stressed you are still working. The money and exposure of one’s work may increase but the “win” is in the serving of the process which you have been doing already anyways.

Phillip Guston once said that with every painting he created, at the start of it everyone he knew was there in the studio with him and as he worked on it, all these phantoms dropped away. My experience is, as I paint everything drops away except the act of painting. I finish work for the day or i complete a piece and there is that familiar joy, then slowly regular life reasserts itself, the pinch of salt to the sweetness. Then next day I chase that away by getting back to it. That’s how it is in some manner for all artists.

I got locked into a groove and was able to get three paintings done. Each was a different size and paper. For the largest, I tried something different eschewing my normal volume and mass effect for the skin. This was not an arbitrary decision, it is how I saw the piece in my head beforehand. I like the difference in the piece from my others.

The new issue of Furious Pure Magazine #8 has a nice overview of my work along with a diverse and talented group of other artists.

https://www.furious-pure-magazine.com

“Flower” 5×7 Paper

‘Hayley” 9×12 Rembrandt cold pressed fin cotton paper

“Cookie” Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

by Wayne Wolfson

Lexicon: Linguine & Selfie

A lot of things in the world of painting which are now common were inspired by a pragmatism. The impressionists often painted in pleine air because it was easier than dealing with the types of studios which they could afford. They used each other and friends, family and lovers as subjects since this would be less expensive than using professional models.

The painter doing self-portraits also came about from such considerations. Occasionally, it does have an aspect of symbolism, the painter proclaiming themselves as such, pledging a lifetime of serving the process.

My oeuvre contains many self-portraits. Sometimes just a body part. at others times my mug. There is no symbolism in this. Either I had some paint left in palettes or I wanted to get to work without dealing with anyone else. Initially, there was a time & money pragmaticism for the subjects of my portraits. Now I prefer to use the people from my inner circle since we have an established trust where they offer up an emotional honesty rather than anything which would be too academic or glam.

My mission is to offer up emotional honesty in my work since truth is beauty. The portrayal of myself, warts and all and of flesh in general is a major part of my lexicon.

Linguine my ever present Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

ME Canson Watercolor paper 5×7 cold pressed

Bonus: quick sketch & journal entry over morning coffee 5×5 inches.

by Wayne Wolfson

One Song About Two Women: Spaghetti Night & Tongue

There was an article recently about the two most influential modern artists. It got me thinking about the nature of art’s current influence. Art has become specialized. People still flock to museums but the casual viewer is there because of the totem they have made of any given artist, the mythos as it applies to them.

Picasso was important to his peers because of how he freed them up to pursue their own North Stars. The appeal now? He has become a sort of shorthand for being able to do whatever you want, seemingly effortlessly and make money, scribble on a napkin to pay for a roomful of people’s dinner at a four star restaurant, grab a collector/gallerist or peer’s wife by the breast and have everyone laugh and clap. It holds great appeal for people who aspire to become famous from nothing more than becoming an influencer or reality television star.

Picasso was an ass for sure. But credit where credit is due, he spent the majority of his day working in front of an easel and when not directly applying brush to canvas it was one of the things foremost on his mind.

People now admire Picasso not for what he did, nor what he freed up in others but because in their minds he was sort of proto reality start/influencer. They think of all they could do if they could be Picasso-like, not realizing that you can’t wish to be sui generis and still live the life you live now as you live it. That is the wish though and artists have become a totem divorced from what their reality was.

Painting has suffered the same divorce from reality. People have grown used to looking at art online often the artist’s hand/brushstroke is not as apparent and sometimes digitally smoothed out. A.I has made it worse, images made to look “real” quoting if not outright reproducing famous paintings & images do not even attempt to appear made by human hands.

These factors combined with the fact that everyone has a cellphone with which to photograph the minutia of their lives and how to look at and enjoy a painting is forgotten.

The casual viewer does not want to see the artist’s hand, they want machine like perfection as seen on their screens or phones. A painting is judged “good” now by how close to hyper realism it is. If a painting of a face can’t be mistaken for a photo then it is not good. (to me 99% of the hyper realism stuff is all technique and no soul. You forget it a soon as it it not in front of your face).

The only exception to all this seems to be some of the well known paintings, Van Gough, Monet’s waterlilies et al. With those though appeal is artificial story the viewer has told that they insert themselves into.

I was at a museum in Paris looking at one of these well known paintings and a twenty something woman stood next to me with the corners of her mouth turned down. I had to ask what was wrong. She showed me the image of the painting we stood before on her phone. She looked down at it then up. She showed me the image on the phone then waved her hand as if swatting away an insect at the painting;

“What’s all that?”

It was the impasto strokes of the brush on canvas.

For my works, I want my pieces to look like the subject but to also capture the truth of the moment before me. I am not afraid for a painting or drawing to look like painting or drawing. This is simple but important advice I would give any painter.

Spaghetti Night 9×12 inches Rembrandt cold pressed fine grain

Tongue my ever present Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

by Wayne Wolfson

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

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

Robin Trower

Duke Ellington famously said that there are only two types of music, good and bad. Now more than any other time it is easy to explore. This is a freedom more should take advantage of as there could be something out there waiting for you that is currently lazily being written off as “Nah not my thing” .

Although seemingly far removed from what people know as my musical taste, i do enjoy Robin Trower. He mixes virtuosity with an emotional cadence. While this is not the first thing I reach for nor remotely indictive of my taste, when in the mood it hits the spot.

I used my at home watercolor set up & Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

Always looking for subjects to draw paint, email me 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

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:

by Wayne Wolfson