Still working to shift my focus to painting light and dark rather than
individual objects. I succeed pretty well in the early stages but then
get enamored of specifics and tend to lose sight of the bigger picture.
The bigger picture is right in front of me, whether a set-up or a photo.
But the bigger picture on another level is all of the things to be mind-
ful of: correct values to imply form, color relationships to make the
surface sing, spatial concerns, mark-making, texture, composition.
And yet there's an even bigger thing to be aware of: intention. There's
a wonderful lofty quote by Odilon Redon on the Powers of
Observation site.
“I would prefer to claim with Pissarro that the art of painting, for those who
know how to use their eyes, resides in an apple on the corner of a table.
What could be more stupid than painting an apple! And yet to make of
such a simple fact something that will be elevated to beauty, painting
will have to engage all of its means; it will have to be solid, flexible, and
rich in substance, suggestive too, so suggestive that it will have the luxury,
the grandeur of revealing man’s presence in the apple — the apple surrounded
with an atmosphere of thought.”
From "To Myself," Odilon Redon
If I keep sight of this one, albeit very large intention, maybe everything
else will fall in line.
From "To Myself," Odilon Redon
If I keep sight of this one, albeit very large intention, maybe everything
else will fall in line.
