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Differing perspectives
in the production of art is extremely important to provide
diversity in the finished product. Two very keen members have
taken it upon themselves to provide contrary points of view on a
variety of subject matter.
Click a link to
navigate to that subject on this page.
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Feedback
Send your view by email direct to the authors:
kibbleart@optusnet.com.au
or
rospsakis@optusnet.com.au
or both.
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Presentation -
February 2011 |
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The Crow says
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One way to think about the value of presentation for your artwork is to draw a corollary. Think public speaking. Great oratory comes from the heart, conviction, and experience. Without those, spoken words can be wooden at best and embarassing at worst. And the use of reference notes can be distracting if not used with discretion.
The parallels in art presentation is that experience tells you how to look at your work through the mind of your viewers. Sometimes putting artwork away for a time gives a fresh insight into it’s effect on a viewer.
Have your reference pics become too obvious in the design and rendering, leading to stiffness of image? Great art has a rhythm that just sings.
To preserve the best effect of your art it is wise to spend time contemplating the packaging. To get a good ‘look’ and ‘feel’, in most cases the artist needs outside help. It’s not as simple as just consulting your local framer, but you can certainly get a lot more options
there than anywhere else.
Art needs to be thought of as a ‘product’. Shoddy products get the shift no matter how good the art. An orator that ‘looks good’ is more effective than one that is sloppy. Same with art. It has to be clean, neat and professional, like a
three-dimensional object, not just on the front.
Don
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The Pro says ....
So we have done a lovely painting. It’s so lovely, it’s almost breathtaking. And there’s an exhibition on soon and we just might have a chance of selling it.
Now, comes the business of presenting the piece of breathtaking loveliness. We could take it to a professional framer and have the job done OR we could whip a paling off the back fence and bung a frame together ourselves. Two inch nails to hammer in some string on the back, reinforce it with a couple of tomato ties and a couple of nasty gadgets to hold the string on and finish it off with a tiny label that might or might not fall off on the way to the exhibition.
Certainly there are clever people who do their own framing at home and they do it beautifully. I have seen some that is very professional and done with great pride.
Either way, the framing tells the viewer and the prospective buyer, just what we think about our painting and ourselves.
So, assuming you are very proud of your painting, the frame should reflect that and should compliment the picture without dominating it. And think about what those nasty sharp gadgets on the back of your picture are going to do to other paintings that come in contact with it.
And of course, don’t forget to sign it. A signature (like the frame) shouldn’t dominate the painting but should sit there in the corner looking very discreet but quietly confident.
Ros
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Holiday
Art - December 2010
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The Crow says
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“What’s different about holiday art”, we hear you ask.
Well, for one thing it has to be more FUN. A time to try out new techniques without the pressure of a life lived and an art-show deadline.
A time to discover, or maybe re-discover, what might unwittingly be taken for granted. Such as the colour and tone qualities of a mid-day sky. The nature of colour in morning light, which seems to last a little longer than evening light. Etc.
Holidays are a great time to get in the habit of casual sketching. An A5 pad is ideal for carrying around and are inconspicuous in the public domain.
A4 pads provide more elbow room whilst A3 really needs a support and that means more stuff to carry around. The larger sizes though makes it look like you’re the ‘real deal’ of an artist. And that’s a crowd stopper.
But that’s another thing. It’s great fun having people hanging around watching your every move. I like to call it PERFORMANCE ART ! (And it’s a great way to meet girls!!!) (ok, boys too.)
And if you’re a ‘Capitalist’ you will have a bundle of your calling cards on hand for a professional impact. Billionaires take holidays too you know.
The most important thing about ‘holiday art’ is that it gives you an excuse to break from personal and family routine. Private time is important, especially so for artists.
So have a nice picturesque holiday.
Don
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The Pro says ....
Holidays.! Long ones, short ones, good ones and bad. Memorable and
forgettable. All of them providing material for the memory box.
However, those ‘let’s laze by the pool and get waited on and
order room service’ kind of holidays are quite different to
painting hols. Painting trips are a whole different ball game.
Painting trips require a sort of frenzied rushing about to find
the perfect spot. Which of course only exists for a short period
of time and usually when you have left the site. You know what I
mean, you drive down a country road and ....’Nope, nothing here
to paint”. Come back three hours later and its “Hey, who put
that farm house there. Surely they didn’t just build it..?!”
Those long purple shadows and orange light of late afternoon have
made a perfect painting subject but it wasn’t there a few hours
ago.
So, a painter falls into that routine of mentally noting a subject
that might look great first thing in the morning and then there’s
that other spot that will only look fabulous at dusk and of
course, those milking cows will be crossing the road at four in
the afternoon. And so begins the frenzied darting about and it
must be timed perfectly because what if the mist rises too quickly
or the sun goes behind a cloud when you need the sunshine. Worse
than that, what if you get held up waiting for the cloud to move
and you miss the cows crossing the road?? What then? Oh, it’s
all too much and there’s always the chance that you will catch
sight of a fantastic subject by accident on your way to somewhere
else which will throw out your entire schedule for the day. Then,
you will miss everything and have to come back the next day. But
usually, that’s the day you have to go home.
Painting holidays!.......what a lovely chance to do some frantic
rushing about.
Ros
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Focus
- what are we doing? - November 2010
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The Crow says
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Making artwork is a terrifically fun thing to do. In fact it can be so much fun that it is easy to forget what we start out to do.
Quite apart from the act of 'painting', it is a matter of keeping to the 'vision' of the first brush of inspiration. For example, if we want to paint a landscape, there must be something about the view that impresses most. In the process of mixing colour, design can get left behind. In the process of painting the background, the foreground can can be left wanting.
Art should have some meaning, as well as beauty, that comes through to the viewer. Your picture should say "This is what life means to me".
One of the most important things that can be focussed on is not the likeness to reality, but the atmosphere of the scene or subject. The feeling of the thing.
Focussing on those two aspects will give meaning to your work and say something to the viewer above and beyond the likeness. In this respect, it can be seen that accurate drawing is subjugated to effect. It does seem to be the modern way, as artists have been freed by the camera to conentrate on creating images of impressions.
Don
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The Pro says ....
One would think that the excitement of beginning a new painting would hold our attention firmly in place. But I have been known to ‘wander off’ mentally to plan meals and make shopping lists, leaving the brush to wander around the painting unaccompanied and on automatic. It’s not until I step back to view the progress that I see what a mistake it is to let a brush potter off on its own. (much like the concentration of yours truly.)
The scrubbing-in stage at the start of the painting can mostly take care of itself and be a bit willy nilly if it likes. But the further into the painting, each brushstroke should mean something. The closer to completion, no brush stroke should be put down unless it is planned and put for a reason.
A powerful stroke should only be applied once as each additional stroke loses the power of the first.
So, in the first stage of painting, plan meals, make shopping lists, visualise new curtains or outfits if you must.......BUT when the serious brushstrokes are needed, so is the concentration. Undivided and absolute.
Ros
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Palettes
- the colours we use - October 2010
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The Crow says
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Temperature rules. Colour is not what you see but what you feel. Are you warm or cool? Or hot or cold? And what does it matter if the colour has an affected name?
For traditional painting modes, the primaries are the go, sure. But even there, it is darned time consuming to mix an effective turquoise when Pthalo works a charm. Not to mention the old standard, Burnt Sienna. A wonderful colour on it's own or as a modifier for others. And Cadmium Orange; how cool is that colour for impact.
An advantage is using a variety of tube colours is the ability to work on a cleaner palette. Most of the mixing is done, and tonal differences come more quickly.
A master of this method of working would be Jawei Shen. Jawei demonstrated at SGAS in 2005 with a portrait of the Society's president. He must have had thirty different tubes of colour on his palette. Most of the mixing was not done on the palette, but on the picture.
The other thing is that while primary colours are fine for traditional artwork, for modern effects there are metallics and floruescents and all manner of imaging options.
So. The crux of the issue is the power of knowledge. If you know what will happen then you have total control.
Don
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The Pro says ....
When it comes to colours, let’s see what we have to choose from.
There’s Verdigras Green, Billygoat Brown, Passionfruit Purple, Titivating Turquoise and Bandicoot Burgandy.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
Then of course there’s that delightful Pimple Pink which could be good for painting the inside of a fruit bat’s mouth but not much else.
If we consider that all those fancy named colours can be made from the three primary colours, we could save ourselves a lot of colour mixing frustration.
Red, Yellow and Blue will create Orange, Purple and Green and all the shades of grey under the sun. These mixed ‘greyed off’ colours are clean, sensitive and the backbone of all paintings.
By having a warm and a cool of each on the palette, we can paint ANYTHING.
Toss our all those Billygoats and Bandicoots and have a play with just:- Red, Yellow, Blue .. equal .. Orange, Purple and Green.
They are all you ever need.
Ros
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Palettes
- 1 - September 2010
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The Crow says
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What's a palette but a place to put stuff.
It doesn't matter if it's messy or clean if the end result is a good painting.It helps in the mixing process though if the colours are in an order that you can relate to. Most artists would place paint on the far side to leave max room for mixing, but notice above that Degas has his at one end.
It's a good idea to prepare a number of mixes before painting. For me that means a number of tonal variations; ie-light/mid/dark of several hues. Hue and tonal variations being made from those. But maybe that's personal.
There's a wide range of ways to set up and use a palette. Whistler believed proper palette organization was the key to all the good stuff. Seurat, as we might imagine, kept his mainly primary pigments in a pretty rigid and unwavering order. For him, Mr. Black was not allowed on the job. Gauguin, for all his verbal enthusiasm for pure colour, made an unsightly pileup of sullied pigment.
Sometimes it is a good idea to keep unused colour mixes on the palette, partly for colour matching later, partly to preserve the beauty of a unique mix. A comletely clean palette is too much like starting over.
Don
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The Pro says ....
Palettes more than anything else seem to reflect the personality of the painter. At least, so it seems at first appearance. One would think that an artist who paints quickly, with broad strokes and great gusto, would have a palette that reflects his nature. A palette that is in utter chaos, uncleaned
and seemingly neglected, would surely belong to an artist with the same habits.
Not always.
Then again, a meticulously cleaned and polished, loved and nurtured palette should belong to someone whose paintings show the same qualities. Again, not always.
From what I see, I don't think palettes tell us much about the painter at all. Only their paintings do that. Me personally? Well, I began with all good intentions.
My palette got cleaned after every painting. Squeaky clean. Then only after every five paintings. Then, not at all. Suddenly, disposable palette paper seemed a good idea. Then Baking Paper came along and probably made me into the laziest painter ever. But, I don't think it reflects on my
painting style.
So, does it make a difference what condition our palette is in?....neglected and disgusting or cleaned and polished , I guess in the end, the proof is in the pudding ....er painting.
Ros
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Painting
is Drawing - August 2010
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The Crow says
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Not according to ‘the book of words’ where a drawing is a picture or diagram made with a pencil, pen, or crayon rather than paint, and esp. one drawn in monochrome.
A painting on the other hand is described as the process or art of using paint in a picture.
Of course, both can be used as a means to create a pictorial representation of an image. And this is where we deviate from the norm. I say drawing can be done with any implement; but I like the idea that drawing is related to ‘diagrams’.
Drawing, in the natural order of things, precedes painting because it is a ‘thinking tool’, whereas painting is an ‘impression tool’. In other words, painting gives life to drawing. But does it really? Contemporary art has become notorious for not following the rules. Whether this is just to be
different as a means of getting noticed is hard to say. What is sure is the artists that seem to swish the brush around with abandon have in most cases put in the hard yards with pen and pencil.
This provides the understanding needed to paint with authority. For this reason, I find it interesting to draw my paintings with a large ‘non-defining brush’ as a way of drawing out understanding of the image. So, I have turned it around. Drawing is painting! Or maybe that should be ‘drawing can be painting’. Whatever.
Don
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The Pro says ....
If we are to paint a horse or a house, or a moose or a mouse, we need to have some sort of drawing to start with. Just slapping paint onto canvas without some guiding lines doesn’t give us anything to work with.
On the other hand, too many guiding lines, that is, a PERFECT drawing might get us into even more trouble. When the drawing is too perfect, too
detailed, too precious, then it could be that we become afraid to put the paint onto it for fear of ‘messing’ it up. So, we go in very gingerly, dabbing each brush stroke in between the lines in an effort not to disturb them.
However, if we allow ourselves to depict the subject using only the most basic lines of drawing, then we are free to ‘sculpt’ the subject in paint.
Adjustments and corrections can be made throughout the painting without the worry of disturbing an overly detailed drawing.
The main thing to remember is, in reality nothing in Nature actually HAS EXISTING OUTSIDE LINES around their edges. Certainly not the last time I
looked.
So maybe painting isn’t about drawing at all !!
Ros
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Oils
or Acrylics - July 2010
.... do we
really have to choose? |
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The Crow says ....
ACRYLIC
The greatest invention since oil paint in the fifteenth century!
That was when it took over from fresco because that process dried much too quickly.
The interesting thing is that, with acrylics, it seems that we have come full circle. This
new media dries fast but despite this, it has become very popular among today's artists.
The reason may be that it suits the modern approach to painting. Oils suited the need
for the allegorical images and portraiture of the middle ages and been refined since then
as the medium for serious artwork of the genre. Acrylics, on the other hand, is versatile. It can be watered down or bulked up. It's drying
time can be extended or quickened. It mixes in a manageable way with a wide range of
modern materials. It can be used a glue. It is ideal for underpainting with oil, as a
means to quickly set design/shape/tone relationships. Oils to acrylic, is like yoghurt to gelato. The one is warm, smooth and refined, the other
is cold, coarse and brash. Life itself is like that, not always one or the other but
sometimes both.
Let's drink to that! But best to use water.
Don
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The Pro says ....
OIL
As a medium, oil paint has everything going for it. The consistency of oil paint can be
used thin, or thick or medium. It can be worked on when it’s wet or when it’s dry. The
colours stay the same and don’t lighten or darken. An oil painting can be completed
in one sitting or worked on over a long period. Paint can be applied in thin translucent
glazes or thick opaque layers. The finished painting can be varnished to a shiny gloss
or left matte. It can be worked through from lean to fat. Or started out fat and
finished up even fatter. All in all, oil paint does everything. And, as a bonus, there’s the lovely fragrance of
turps. These days though, there’s a move afoot to ban all smelly things like turps. People have
been known to replace it with orange perfumed liquids, lemon scented fluids, baby oil,
and no end of low odour, no odour, smell free, fume free concoctions many of which,
in the fine print, suggest avoiding a build up of fumes?! Or stating that they don’t really
recommend painting with it...... Confused? Me too.
While they sort it all out, I’ll stay
on the Turps.!!
Ros
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Plein
Air Painting - June 2010 |
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The Crow says ....
Painting outdoors gives the artist everything that's needed to be creative.
Notwithstanding the seeming adverse effects of the elements. There is a greater
sense of achievement in overcoming weather impediments and t he setting-up
hassles. In comparison, working indoors, from photos, can be confining. What's
missing is the experience, and sense of place that can contribute many 'graphic
moments' to the artwork.
Photos can capture things, but not all colours will reproduce accurately. Here,
experience (what you know), combined with intuition (what you don't know) can make
for unique visual impressions. The fact of atmospheric and other changes means the
artwork can change too, as the work progresses. Photo reference generally limits the
artist to making a more striking impression of a two-dimensional image. Nature
provides a constant feed of new inspiration in lighting
intensities and contrast changes. Yea..., even helpful advice from passers-by!
Don
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The Pro says ....
Plein air painting limits the subject matter to things that don’t move.!!
So, forfeit children playing. Seagulls flying. Horses galloping etc etc.
Even the landscape can change dramatically in a short time so a plein air painter
must work quickly. Two hours at most on any subject. A landscape subject caught in the morning light, sunlight sparkling on the water and
long purple shadows across frosty grass…..is it going to wait while we set up the
easel? Within an hour or two, that special lighting effect will be gone.
So, there we are changing the length of the shadows, and deleting the sparkle off the
water because the sun has risen higher and taken the sparkles away.
And that fleeting moment that we wanted to capture, has gone. Gee if only we had
taken a photo.
If we learn to LOOK and understand how Nature works, then photos can be used
successfully. I’ve seen paintings done from photos that look like they were done outdoors.
I’ve also seen paintings done outdoors that look like they were done from photos.
It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it…..!
Ros
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