Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Beachcombing
The Sea Hath Its Pearls, by William Henry Margetson, hangs in my local art gallery, the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The AGNSW has a large collection of Victorian art, and is well worth a visit if you are in this neck of the woods.
Note the border of tessellated crabs on the gilded frame.
The round, port-hole-like format suits marine-themed paintings.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Javier Torices 1968-
These views of the coasts of Ibiza and Cadiz, by Spanish painter Javier Torices, have been executed in mixed media on board.
The square format is perfect for interesting cropped-in compositions, close up views of water focussing on the abstract patterns of ripples and reflections. The muted palette brings out striking tonal contrasts which strengthen the design. The contrasts between rough sand or rocks and smooth water, between shimmer and shadow, are particularly effective.
Although work of this level of accuracy is normally based on photographs to some extent, the video on his website shows the painter working both on site and in the studio. In any case there is enough painterliness to make the artist present in the work. Some photorealist painters deliberately seek to remove all trace of themselves from the painting.
These are quite large pieces: 100 x 100cm and 180 x 180 cm.
Although work of this level of accuracy is normally based on photographs to some extent, the video on his website shows the painter working both on site and in the studio. In any case there is enough painterliness to make the artist present in the work. Some photorealist painters deliberately seek to remove all trace of themselves from the painting.
These are quite large pieces: 100 x 100cm and 180 x 180 cm.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Palette Knife
Mian Situ probably used a palette knife for this seascape.
His historical paintings are amazing: website
Saturday, February 5, 2011
"Paint it Big"
Martine Emdur, Sea Weave V
This close up view of seaweed swirling in the tide, by the Australian artist, Martine Emdur, is intimate but painted on a huge scale: 168 x 183 cm.
Sometimes the only way to make people stop and look at the beauty you wish to convey to the world, is to blow an image up to wall size.
This was the conclusion that Georgia O'Keefe came to about painting flowers:
“So I said to myself – I’ll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I’ll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking the time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.”
Other artists have said that there is a right scale for every painting.
A tiny painting can also captivate the viewer if it possesses a gem-like beauty.
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