and my first painting scraped off perhaps in 20 years or
more that I can remember. I came to the conclusion I
might learn something about light, or find some inspira-
tion in Bato's work...but, I'm no Bato. I'm no Clyde Aspevig,
or Scott Christensen either for that matter. Love seeing
what is working for other artists and figuring out why.
I decided I needed a quick effort to recover my ego, so
I went back to my roots. No...its not a 200 hour painting
but it is a duck, a drake bluebill painted very much like
my early work.
This oil sketch is 5"x 7" and painted in about an hour's
time.
Its not at that state of submission-like perfection
I would work on for a competition stamp entree, but it
was fun...and I kept it brief and simple. Quick...and in
a sketch like state. What might be fun to do, is try one
counting my brushstrokes like I did about a year ago on
a half-dozen subjects. Such really gets you thinking about
the brush work...
6 comments:
Larry, this has a nice soft feel to it. Lots of contrast without glaring. Sometimes we need to just "play".
Jo
thanks Jo...
perhaps if one thing or idea isn't going so well, rather than despair, maybe work it out to feel better about painting with something else..
Don't forget Bato will never paint a Larry Seiler either! Great work
thanks Tim...
I'm not cast down...just kinda bummed I couldn't figure out more. Least not at the immediate. There are ways. For example, one way to sign up for a workshop with a good painter, without actually taking a workshop...might be that age old tradition of copying the painting.
I did that way back in the late 70's, when I used to copy Rembrandt and Frans Hals work. Guess if Bato's work impresses me THAT much, that is what I could do. Perhaps I just may.. 8^)
I don't want to lose my way of painting. So it is understood, I don't despise my working, just want to better understand the light as Bato is seeing it. Folks I don't believe will see a quantum shift in my work. What I'm seeking is subtle, and because of that perhaps is why its at the moment difficult.
take care
Very nice Dad, great edges, and I really like the placement of the duck, the angle of the reflection in the water all helps strengthen the composition.
I think that Bato has something to offer an artist who's seeking growth and change or even to just try something new. But I can only handle so much Bato, it will eventually start to bore me. Of course there are a few of his paintings that I keep coming back to for inspiration. There are also paintings of his that I don't much care for at all.
I'm sure that he has his inspirations as well as well as his frustrations within his own work . . . we all do, after all, we're all human and we all must seek growth in whatever it is that we do, otherwise we'll very easily become stale . . . .
believe everything you say is true Jason...
I wonder if there are not some other dynamics at play too. As a long time art educator/instructor...part of my obligation and service is to understand what it is artists do...how they do it, so there exists this natural intrigue on my part to observe others and be curious.
I say "dynamics" because where some of that filters over and wants to affect the educator as artist is perhaps hard to say or recognize. My own personal anecdote has simply been to paint, and paint often... paint much.
It is difficult for the artist to find himself, because even the taken on of an agent or a publisher (depending on the genre) can begin to dictate how far one may deviate or grow beyond the work of others to promote you.
I agree with you...about 70% of the works of Bato do not speak to me...but of those that do, there is a hint of something I've been knocking on the door myself to add to my work. It makes sense to pay attention when that little something is just on the other side of that door and you see another who has come to find it.
Not to necessarily reinvent myself and work...but to give that extra little something I'm already and have been seeking. Its about pursuing the light and the special things that gives a painting a feeling of REAL'ness while blatantly believing that benign detail does not then necessarily give a realistic painting the feeling of life...of that which gives the viewer the feeling of being able to take it in. The painting becoming a type of experience rather than a recording of facts.
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