Monthly Studio Update - June, 2001
Studio Updates:
Self-portrait, 2001, acrylic on board, 28"x20".
I just finished this self-portrait two nights ago, June 12th. A few months ago I began it has a very simple project but it soon developed into something much more complicated than I anticipated. In real life the painting has a radical contrast of glowing orange on the stomach with the dark blues, greens, and purples of the rest of the body and the background. I couldn't help but think of Rembrandt and his use of spotlight effects. But Rembrandt mostly used black, grays, and browns contrasted with golden highlights. Here I wanted to create a spotlight effect by the extreme contrast of color.
When artists paint self-portraits they usually paint themselves straightforward, meaning that they look in the mirror and paint what they see. And normally what you will see is the intense concentration of the artist working--not necessarily a introspective work, and rarely is it a thematic work. In this painting I wanted to convey the beckoning of a lover. The hand reaching out, and the symbolism of the placement of the hand should not be ignored.
Venus of the Sea, work in progress, acrylic on linen,4'x4'.
A rose colored washed as been added to Venus of the Sea. And if you saw the first stage of the painting, in the May Studio Update section, you can see that the charcoal grid squares have disappeared. I have never started a painting before with a rose base, but here it felt right. Using colors that I am not used to keeps me on my toes; keeps me focused on the possibilities of color. What will ultimately happen is that the background will be intense blue, but the rose base will have a subtle influence on the nature of those blues as well as the color of her flesh tone.
Study in the Studio, 2001, pastel on black paper, 18"x22".
Last night, June 14, I drew this pastel. The subject of which is the is the above two paintings. I saw them together and saw something interesting the the composition and the colors and, presto, a new work. One technical aspect that I work towards in all my art is to create the sense of 3 dimensional space: to give a real sense that the objects in front feel like they are in front and the back objects feel like that are in the distance. Notice the placement of the straw chair in relationship to the aluminum folding stool, likewise the blue painting to the rose one. This tool in art effects the eye and gives it the sense that its vision is moving through space, through the distance and along the forms of the objects. This is one of most powerful ways to create movement in a painting. Michelanglo has said that movement equals emotion. I don't know if everyone experiences this but it sure works for me.
Study 1 for Venus, 2001, acrylic on canvas board, 51/2"x7".
Study 2 for Venus, 2001, acrylic on canvas board, 8"x10".
These are two tiny studies for the background of Venus. They also make their appearance in the pastel of my studio, in the bottom right hand corner. The light for the painting of Venus is sunset light, a golden orange glow that lands on objects but creates an amazingly intense blue of the sea and sky. On Rhodes the coastline is great but the sun sets in front of me not behind me--as I need for the painting. So I decided to make these two studies at dawn where I have sun behind me and the coastline in front. The light was perfect but it was a windy morning and it created a different mood than the one I want. So in the coming days I'll get up early and check out if it is a calm day, and then off to make some more studies.
Study for Lovers, 2001, pencil on paper, 7"x10".
A project I have had in my mind for sometime is a large painting of two lovers playfully jumping into the sea as free and easy as two eight year-olds. What attracts me to this composition is the expression, rhythm, and mirror-like imaging. This is a quick sketch from my imagination. The following studies are worked from a live model.
Study 2 for Lovers, 2001, pencil on paper, 9"x10".
Study 3 for Lovers, in progress, pencil and charcoal on paper, 14"x20".
Study 2 is a gesture sketch from the model, just to check if the idea I had in my mind looks ok with a living model. If they clash the image of my mind must go under revision. Once I feel the pose is right I then set out to check, re-check, and triple-check the proportions of the figure, Study 3. The empty space of the left is reserved for the woman. In late July I will start work with the female model.
One question many people have asked me is how does the model pose when they are depicted as jumping through the air. The process I use is to have them stand on one leg with a cane in hand for balance and simulate the jump with their other leg.
The pastel portraits underway, mention in last month's update are coming along slowly, mostly due to the models working at their normal jobs 12-16 hours a day--this is high season in Rhodes!
Non-visual Updates:
About six months ago I sent out a newsletter describing my plans to put together a special proposal package that will go out to the world's most important contemporary art museums. The package is done. On June 9th, I celebrated the completion of the package by throwing a party in my home and studio on Rhodes. The package contains: a new 16-page catalog of my major paintings. A statement of my aesthetic values. And the Newberry Manifesto with an introduction, Post-Postmodern Art, by philosopher Stephen R.C. Hicks. In his essay, he places postmodern art into historical perspective and then, as a postscript, introduces my manifesto.
The package will go out in late summer or early fall.
Out now in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 is my article, On Metaphysical Value-Judgments. It is a critique of What Art Is by Kamhi and Torres. By following this link, http://aynrandstudies.com/jars/v2_n2/2_2toc.asp you will be directed to the table of contents page, from there you find information on subscriptions.
Related to this article, I will give the lecture, Detecting Value Judgments in Art, at The Objectivist Center's Summer Seminar University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown on July 2nd.
Also at that conference I will give a two-day Seminar for Artists on June 29th and the 30th. For information contact TOC 1-800-347-1776 www.ObjectivistCenter.org
That's it. July's update will come up late in July due to my travel commitments.
|
|
|
|
