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.
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
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.
Jim Hull's watercolor painting "Pilgrimage 2 - Trekking to Lhasa" has been accepted in the 2008 Statewide Watercolor Competition at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara California. The exhibit will run daily from December 6, 2008 through February 22, 2009. Please stop by and let us know what you think!
If you happened to be at the Photokina 2008 show in Cologne, Germany or the Photoplus 2008 show in New York City, you might have seen Jim Hull's paintings featured in demonstrations by Hewlett-Packard. HP was showing off their new printer technology and software marketed towards fine-art reproduction. Show attendees were seen to scratch their heads as they tried to figure out which painting was an original and which was hot off the printer.
Photographer David Saffir was on hand to explain the process and highlight the advantages of HP printers and archival quality inks and paper. All prints sold on this web site are created using HP technology and are of excellent quality with vibrant colors and accurate reproduction.
We've heard nothing but compliments from people who have our prints including one who wondered if he was sent the original painting by mistake. Get one today-we know you will be impressed.
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 on one level but fail to meet that standard on all levels. It is not enough to merely use technique to force coherence at the painting stage. It must be built in at the design, story and painting levels. These to me represent the three most important areas for a watercolor painter to use. It is much like the design build concepts used in the construction industry. First we design and then we build or render. To have too little thought on the front end(design/ story leaves too much to chance. While chance plays an important and much recognized role in watercolor painting it should not be the principle design strategy in an intentional painting. In a non intentional spontaneous painting one could lauch forth with 'chance' as the key strategy but in the end the artist must bring coherence into play if the painting is to succeed.
You can't start with nature and end up with a forever painting. You will not find that 'something more' in nature as it is only a symbol for beauty that you seek. As a symbol it can point toward the higher but does not contain it. That is why so many watercolor paintings fail to reach the 'forever painting' level. They are nice renderings but contain less and not more than nature. They become of a symbol of the symbol. They are lower and not higher because the artist started with the wrong point of view. To reach the higher level requires a differnt point of view. This is a point of view that comes from within the artist and is imposed upon the subject matter. Therefore don't look for or expect to find your 'something more' in nature, or for that matter any part of the material world. Look within and there you will find the hidden treasure that you have been seeking.
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.
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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If you happened to be at the Photokina 2008 show in Cologne, Germany or the Photoplus 2008 show in New York City, you might have seen Jim Hull's paintings featured in demonstrations by Hewlett-Packard. HP was showing off their new printer technology and software marketed towards fine-art reproduction. Show attendees were seen to scratch their heads as they tried to figure out which painting was an original and which was hot off the printer.
