Day Five: "Murder of Crows"

Good Morning?

Wow, day five (and they said it wouldn't last). It was a bit of a harrowing evening, Eudie was stung by a bee in his throat (!) yesterday afternoon. He was coughing and panting...but he still ate his dinner and his breakfast this morning like a champ, he's doing just fine.

This may be a short session today, I've got some dry-walling to complete downstairs and I'm meeting with a friend to organize an exhibition of work in Phoenix...


So, it kind of looks like I've got a fire going here; a big pile of something anyway. I'm really at a turning point at this stage. In my old way of painting I would now begin blocking in the major planes of the figures, making note of junctures and proportions. One problem of painting the figure is everyone knows what people look like and they can easily spot a deformity. In landscape painting the artist can get away with fudging a scene, unless it's iconic (say The Statue of Liberty). With abstract painting the artist has the most freedom, however, all bets aren't necessarily off because you still need to have balance, depth, good color, and a nice surface (at least to keep my attention).

I feel that in in order to have an successful painting, you need to be able to catch the viewer's attention from afar (with color and shape, and the physical size of the painting), keep their attention from a few feet away (using composition and subject), and reward them from up close with some juicy surface texture (brush and knife work). These elements should build upon one another in a visual crescendo. Of course all of that is well and good as a personal philosophy, but I still haven't figured out how to get someone who likes the Western Art genre to appreciate abstract work. But I really am trying, because it is so rewarding to look at!

In looking closely at this canvas, I think I have arranged an overall interesting shape with some good color to attract a viewer; I'm developing the composition, and the surface is coming along nicely. I just need to work on the subject (more on that to follow).

I've included some detail images of the surface to show some different kinds of surface texture. To the right the pale line is drawn with oil stick, some thinned dripping paint is occurring in the upper right corner and just left of center (the gray-green into yellow), and nearly dead-center is an incised loose looking (Zorro!) Z shape, executed with the tip of a palette knife. In the image below, along with more of the drawn pale line and a few drips, are some examples of brushwork. The thinned olive-green in the upper left, and more impasto (a term for thick paint, think of icing on a cake) creamy yellow-gold center and right of center.














When I mentioned I was at a turning point earlier, I was referring to the "subject" aspect of this canvas. That brings me to the idea of influences. What is in an artist's head at the time the brush touches the surface absolutely influences what will occur. As an example (using myself), I have produced a certain genre of work for many years (that being Western). However, recently I have had some life changing experiences. Most notably I went back top school and (finally) got my degree in Fine Art. That experience cannot but impact the work that I now produce. At the outset of this blog I noted that I was trying a new approach in working, so from here forth. I really don't know what to expect of this painting.

I have been toying with the idea of combining genres for quite some time now (since the 1980's to be exact), and am getting closer with every drawing and painting that I produce. My experiences in Chicago (at school) have given me the fortitude, and my experiences with plein aire painting have given me the mental faculties that I believe are the final few pieces to this puzzle I've been puzzling. We'll have to watch together.

Paint well...