Sunday, October 30, 2016

Diana and Callisto detail after Titian

So many of the old master paintings are wrought with emotion and pathos while the art of our time seems to be more about looking, portraying light and color and shadow. And yet, our time is becoming increasingly dramatic, violent and tragic. Are we ignoring the stories that are unfolding around us? Is the art world politically correct? I don't know, but while I was painting this, I had these thoughts along with, what is going on in this picture anyway? Was there a great wind that blew off all these women's clothes? To quote the Simsons, "What is being implied here"?

Sunday, October 16, 2016

I'm still alive



sold




I've been making studies to get back in the groove after taking time off to paint my kitchen cabinets and of course, I've gone back to work. Painting the cabinets was harder than painting pictures and took forever, bur it's done and it's a great improvement. When I started painting again after not painting at all for about 2 months, it seemed like every brushstroke was an exercise in self-doubt. So, I decided to copy some master paintings, hoping that would help me get past this block. I have this tiny paperback of Titian's work and decided it could be sacrificed for the sake of art. I just finished my third one and will post it tomorrow, as I didn't get a good photo. I'm really enjoying painting the copies. I'm loving the intense scrutiny of Titian's work and I'm starting to feel freer in the process.