Painting is the power of suggestion. There is nature and then there is art. When painting you look at something, and then you have to shift your eye to the canvas. There's a few seconds where there's only memory to guide you. It would be interesting if some real authority investigated carefully the part which memory…
Category: art writing
The Conspirators: The Artist and Her Beastly Muse
There is a monkey whispering in my ear. Is it a devil or angel, perhaps an alter ego planning dark or brilliant deeds? It's nothing but a conspiring hairy muse. Shakespeare certainly thought it rascally, chiding the idle and absent muse in Sonnet 100. SONNET 100 by William Shakespeare Where art thou Muse that thou…
An approach on how to learn to paint (recommended books)
There are two schools of thought on how to learn to paint. The first is the atelier based education where technique takes precedence over vision with the goal that if you know how to draw/paint what's in front of you, you can then have leisure to cultivate a vision. The second school proposes that once…
Advice to painters – an excerpt from Robert Henri
"Was it worth it?" Is perhaps a proper question to ask when one wonders about the relevance of one's work. If there ever was a manifesto on the artist's life, Robert Henri's seminal collection of writings, "The Art Spirit" come immediately to mind. It has been the bible for many a generation of hopeful creators.…
Successful Paintings – what makes a painting have “it”
Recently I've been exchanging emails with a friend and collector about having that "eye" for spotting good paintings. How do you know if it's good? Is it a gut reaction? The answer is yes, of course. As a painter you know when you need a red color here or when the composition is lacking or…
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