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 the insight that is the source of a forever painitng and not just a painted copy. It is what the subject feels like rather than what it may look like. Herein lies the quest to feel beyond mere surface appearences and render the essence of the subject matter. It results in a painting that comes from within and not without. Watercolor is particulary suited for this process as it is more spontaneous than other mediums. What comes from 'within' is rendered 'without' in one stroke and cannot be overworked by the logical but mundane part of our mind. The best paintings are those that occur when the artist has 'let go' and is not concerned or in fear of failure. This ability to let go comes from the confidence and motivation supplied by the spiritual processs referred to by Ley's.
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 aspect.
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 aimed to decieve the seer to one aimed at giving the seer a deeper insight into the true nature of the subject. It therefore requires a different point of view, a diffrent starting and ending point. The viewer of an illusionsit painting may be awed or decieved at first; but once the veil of the illusion is lifted the painting loses its power. The Chinese esthetic, however, is less objective and therefore has more staying power. As a strategy to create a 'forever painting' it seems to suggest a more powerful approach. This is the direction my new Buring Tree series seeks to follow.
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 invisible blossoming in the viewer's imagination."
How is this to be achieved? I think it is best achieved by the power of suggestion that can be contained in a whole rather than in the parts. In other words the construction of a design that is aimed at essence and not at detail. I have seen some painitngs that are stopped short but were not designed to stop short. They do not 'read well' because the artist did not prepare the initial design. If this is not accomplished at the beginning of the process then the artist continues to render until the whole story is told and nothing is left to the imagination. To pusure this idea I am working on a new series of 'Burning Forest' Painintgs that will explore the idea of minimal visual clues. These will contain only the essesnce of the idea. I will be writing on further quotes from this book as the process of creating the paintings unfolds.
I look forward to your comments as the new paintings hit the site!
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 painterly conclusion. I now start all of my paintings loosely painting wet into wet. As the painting begins to dry I begin to add the darker and more detailed passages. This process creates more 'flow' and spontaneity and I would recommend it for anyone who feels 'stuck' in terms of progress. I do create some thumbnails to work out the values and composition for larger paintings but may sometimes just 'let it happen'. Either way I end up with a much more rewarding and convincing performance. It has helped me move one step closer to my goal of creating 'forever paintings'.
Hewlett-Packard has posted an article about the success of Jim Hull's digital watercolor prints. Professional photographer David Saffir uses HP printers and software to create color prints for Jim Hull and other talented artists. Take a look at the article at hp.com
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 underlying sketched structure. The best 'emerge' under production and are not intellectual efforts. Sometimes to get our logical brain out of the way and quiet it down allows the more spontaneous and original work to happen.
The first time people see our fine-art reproductions of Jim's watercolor paintings, they always assume they are looking at the original painting. The reproductions are so good, that Hewlett-Packard recently featured Jim's paintings and reproductions at several trade shows. Both the original painting and the reproduction were placed side-by-side and attendees were challenged to figure out which was the original.
Now HP has featured our paintings in a case study about talented photgrapher David Saffir. David photographs all our paintings and creates the fine-art prints using HP printers, paper and software. The result is a dramatically faster turnaround for prints, lower expenses and high quality watercolor reproductions.
We know you'll love the quality of these fine-art watercolor prints. Buy a print or poster today and let us know what you think.
Didn't make it to the 2008 Statewide Watercolor Show at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara, California?-- here's a quick video of what you missed.
Overall the show was overwhelming and the museum was very nice. Out of over 800 watercolor paintings submitted for consideration just 50 exceptional ones were accepted for the show. Jim Hull and his wife Ellie were in attendance at the opening reception and recieved many positive comments on his watercolor painting which was on display.
To everyone who helped make this show a success, thank you! Stay tuned for information about our next exhibit coming up soon.
" Most people are only peripherally aware of the world that surounds then, especially if their surroundings are familar." These are the words of Eckart Tolle as he describes the human situation in terms of our abilyt to see the world anew. The suggestion is that most people will not experience anything new or extraordinary because 'never go anywhere'. Even when they travel physically they are locked into a set of build in expectations based on the little voice in their head. This is what the artist has to fight to overcome and it is the only way to great and 'forever paintings'. Reality is interpreted for most based on their conditioning and it is the artist that needs to see it fresh and anew each day and relay that truth to the others. For me it is the freshness and the sometimes unexpected results of watercolor that make it possible to see and report on reality in a different and hopefully trutuhful way.
The J. Hull Gallery web site features watercolor paintings from watercolor painter Jim Hull. Jim Hull's watercolor paintings feature a variety of topics including golf course watercolor paintings, landscape watercolor paintings, city watercolor paintings, town watercolor paintings, village watercolor paintngs, space watercolor paintings, outer space watercolor paintings, ocean watercolor paintings, and boat watercolor paintings. The watercolor painting gallery sells original watercolor art as well as reproduction prints of original watercolor paintings. A lower cost art option is to buy our poster prints of watercolor paintings. While you are here, please visit out watercolor painting blog featuring painting tips, watercolor advice, insight into the ancient world, philosophy and information on independent space development. The gallery also features several series of watercolor paintings featuring Egypt watercolor paintings, watercolor paintings of the pyramids and karnack, watercolor paintings of Italy and watercolor paintings of Florence and watercolor paintings of Venice.
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