When I was just beginning to paint, I barely knew Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth. What I didn't like were a lot of paintings to which I couldn't seem to relate, no matter how famous the artist was purported to be.
One evening I was looking at a monograph on Velasquez. I just couldn't get it. I called out to my host, "Hey, Bruce. I don't like Velasquez!"
He came over to where I was sitting, with the book on my lap, and looked at me over his half-glasses, saying "Well you just sit there until you do!"
That was my first inkling that the fault might lay with me---horrors!---- not with the painters I "didn't get".
Remember this the next time you don't get a new artist. And have another look, and another.
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The other day, Todd Bonita sent me this photo of his daughter, Kate, working on some plein air finger painting.
Kate, at two-and-a-half is demonstrating that it's never too early to begin. Here she is working on her grisaille, albeit with some extra color, just as I recommend.
(BTW, I intend to suggest to Kate, the next time I see her, that we swap hair).
The next stage for Kate is demonstrated by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun's Self-Portrait. Still, Kate needs about 20 more years to get to this stage but, by then, she'll have a snazzy cap, too.
The ultimate stage is evidenced in Anna Klumpke's portrait of her friend, the painter Rosa Bonheur.
I expect Kate will paint about a thousand canvases in between. Let's hope she's as good, and as successful, as Rosa Bonheur.
Keep those darks transparent, Kate!
Hahaaa...great advice to us all and Kate as well. I had critiqued her plein air finger painting and mentioned the questionable placement of her horizon line, then I told her your comment about keeping the darks transparent...She muttered something about Kandinsky's analytical view of geometrical elements and linear forms. Then she chased a squirrel, fell and cried...I gave her a hug and a popsicle and she hasn't mentioned it since.
ReplyDeleteI always think the bottom line is, "Did I make the effort?" - I mean, I could have just been lazy and sat and watched TV
ReplyDelete- "To do or not to do, that is the question?"
I suppose that, afterwards, ultimately, my only question is, "Did I enjoy doing it more than watching TV?" The rest is just news flashes..
PS Well done, Kate!
ReplyDeletePPS
ReplyDeleteWell done, Anna!
Now I get criticized for having my canvas too low on my easel, but I think Kate may be a wee bit high there. The painting looks good though, and it is the result that counts! Go get'um Kate!
ReplyDelete