Hullart.com Blog tagged 'Painting Technique'

Beyond the Work of Art

jim@hullart.com — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:00:00 +0100

The author Simon Leys states that "There is something more important than a finished work of art: it is the spiritual process that preceded it and guided its execution". This quote is the opening line in a paragrah about the Power of Emptiness. To Leys the work of art is of secondary importance and is only an artifact of the artists journey. It is the journey that is primary. Here I think he is referring to the true work of art as a symbol of some spiritual insight. It is&nbs [...]

Forever Art and Design Strategies

jim@hullart.com — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:00:00 +0100

There are levels of commercial design strategies that make sense in the development of art that is forever. Meaning, quality, aesthetics and funtion all make up some of the concepts that need to be considered when developing a piece of art that is intended to last for perpetuity. To focus only on one of these is to miss the point. They make up an integrated whole without which he art goes 'wanting'. Blind spots in many paintings are the result of a lack of understandind of this key aspec [...]

Creation or Imitation

jim@hullart.com — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:00:00 +0100

According to Simon Leys the Chinese esthetic requires not imitation but rather creation or a summoning of nature.

"Painting is thus, in a literal sense, an activty of creation and not imitation."

This is what he says gives pictorial art its sacred character. This runs contrary to the illusionist nature portrayed in most classical western art. It again points toward the capture of the essence of the subject and not all of the detail. It points away from techinque ai [...]

The Ideal Painting

jim@hullart.com — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:00:00 +0100

This is the first of a series of blogs that I will writing based on thoughts contained in Simon Leys book, The Buring Forest. The book addresses his understanding of Chinese Culture and its impact on the arts and politics. The following is a quote,

" The ideal painting is achieved not on paper, but in the mind of the spectator; for the painter the whole skill consists in selecting those minimal visual clues that will alow the painting to reach its full and [...]

Painting without Sketching

jim@hullart.com — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:00:00 +0100

I have recently(past year) been moving toward a more spontaneous process with my watercolors. I have stopped creating detailed sketches that I would then paint. Moving away from painted sketches into actual paintings has been a great experience. Since I was pretty good at sketching this was a difficult move to make but it has made all the difference. Rather than having a 'tight' drawing to follow, I now follow the painting itself and it seems to lead me to a more [...]

A New Direction for Space Art

jim@hullart.com — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:00:00 +0100

Historically space art has been focused on the lesser of the contents of space. It has almost exclsuively focused on the material aspects of the universe. The ironic thing is that these material aspcets only make up 4% of the visible universe. Why haven't we focused on the other 96%? Because the 4% is more obvious. It is easier to create a representation of material objects than suggest what may be the contents of the other 96%. This leads me to another supposition. If it i [...]

Overdescription in Art

jim@hullart.com — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:00:00 +0100

To over describe with a painting is to lose the potential connection with the viewer. The objectve is to develop a field of energy exchange with the viewer that leads to companionship. This cannont be achieved on a long term basis if all there is to say and do has been layed out before the viewer and does not attract the viewers participation. It is as if the artist is trying to create a long term conversation with the viewer. This requres that some degree of mystery and lack of def [...]

A Doorway to Forever Paintings

jim@hullart.com — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:00:00 +0100

Reading a recent book by Ervin Laszlo I came across a passage that he used to describe how he creates inspired as opposed to indifferent interpretations of music. The key for him is to remove conscious effort from the process. First he practices and learns(through conscious effort) and then spontaneously plays and performs the piece without such effort. I have found this to be true with my art. The better pieces had less consicous effort and in fact the best started with no [...]

The Mona Lisa Smile - A Possible Source

jim@hullart.com — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:00:00 +0100

I was watching a recent program on early Greek art. The narrator pointed out that the Greeks like the Egyptians idealized all forms. One area that was most idealized was the smile on the faces of the statues and busts. Interestingly enought that same idealized smile appeared to be the same as the smile on the Mona Lisa.

Coherence in Watercolor Painting

jim@hullart.com — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:00:00 +0100

The idea of coherence relates to an instant tuning together of all of the parts of a painting. Nature as we know is not automatically coherent. It is chaotic at the visual level. It is therefore one of the key objectives of the watercolor artist to use the concept of coherence to create a 'whole' unified painting. Therefore to create a 'forever painting' the idea of choerence must necessarily play a dominant role. Many paintings seem coherent o [...]

Watercolor Painting and the Strength of a Depiction

jim@hullart.com — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Carrying the message 'strongly' in a painting is one of the key goals of a watercolor painter. One should never struggle too long over a weak depiction. The key is to begin over if the inital attempt appears to be too weak because in painting the stage must be set early for success.

Watercolor Painting and Complexity

jim@hullart.com — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

For an audience to believe that you have created a forever painting you have to build in complexity. This is somehting that was, not only known, but widely utilized in past centuries. When painting was a primary mode of entertainment it was imperative that the artist build in levels and depths of meaning in order to have a painting stand up to the scrutiny of repeated viewings. If the viewers always felt that there were more hidden meanings than could be comprehended in an in [...]