big oil painting, check. This is only my second oil painting. So I decided to do a huge 30x40 canvas. Makes sense.
Actually, I have always wanted to push scale. During the school year, the deadlines constrict scale. In summer, I have the time and energy to push the scale. And in this case, I am happy that I did. Regarding technique, I learned a lot about the medium through this project. I learned how to blend oils to a higher level. This project was daunting, especially at the beginning. To see a huge blank canvas in front of you makes it hard to make a mark. Any mark seems incorrect. But after putting this project off repeatedly, I decided to take a word from Nike and Just Do It. There's something to be learned about making things happen for yourself and trusting the creative process to guide you. Expect more like this. First thing: I decided to do something else than what I originally planned. At first, I was going to paint the interior of a cathedral, but I've decided to go with a landscape instead. The particular location is one of meaning to me, on the Chickahominy River. As a continuation from the last project, this follows a similar vein. The themes are sense of place, beauty, color, and spirituality. The difference is that this subject is based on the natural world, while my first idea (the cathedral) was based on the man-made world.
Progress is being made. I abstained from beginning this project because it was incredibly daunting for me. The hardest part is always starting. I felt like any paint I put on the canvas would look out of place. After overcoming that, I let go of my anxieties and jumped into it - which I think is the only way to get into a painting project. With more time, I focused on recreating the reference less. I wanted to let my process flow more naturally and I realized I preferred to live in a more whimsical world. I learned to let the richness of the medium speak for itself, mixing on the canvas to create beautiful color layering and transitions. light & color The concept for this project is based heavily on my project 38.929571, -77.070679, in which I painted a cherry tree in front of the Washington National Cathedral, and my developing thoughts on spirituality after working at Duke Chapel. From these two experiences, I came to see spirituality and religion as very disparate things. I came to understand how light and color so moved my grandfather, the late master craftsman at the National Cathedral.
The above reference photograph was taken at the National Cathedral. I remember how my grandfather was always interested in how the iridescent shadows cast by the windows moved and changed as time passed. I noticed the same thing when I visited the Cathedral. And that's what I'm trying to paint in this next project. I'm attempting to debase spirituality into the simplest terms: color and light. Technically, I want to try oils again. Big canvas. Direct painting and layering. Bright, shimmering colors. Conceptually, I'm still interested in sense of place and spirituality. And I think there's a lot there for me to work with. I am not a religious person.
I subscribe neither to the Christian narrative nor any other narrative. I do not pray to any God. I do not read the Bible. I have no reason to believe in any sort of afterlife.
But working alongside my uncle and my father in Duke Chapel, I achieved a sense of wholeness. Here I worked, perfecting a huge stony monument to a God I'm not sure I even believe in. Here I came to understand the meaning of "God" in the abstract. I realized that I was part of something bigger than myself. I admired how orange morning sun struck the masonry; how the row of repeating pillars seemed to rhyme; the deepness of the painted glass; how the rising and setting sun brilliantly illuminated different shades of glass in the windows, combining the natural world with the building. At a base level, I was struck by the deepness of the reds and greens and blues and yellows, and ultimately, the power of pure light. My grandfather, the stained glass craftsman at the National Cathedral for almost a half century, always spoke of color and light in this way. At the time, I was too young to understand him. Doing his work, I was finally able to understand how he took so much meaning from the work he did. With each trip up the scaffold, with the blisters and soreness and sweat, I found myself getting closer to his story. My spirituality is not based on scripture or sermon or prayer. It is based on a much more transcendental and less traditional kind of spirituality. Mine comes from heritage, from nature, and from a sense of place. I don't think stained glass will be my lifelong career, but it is a part of my story and who I am. the chonk, the whole chonk, and nothing but the chonk I continued to think about sense of place, nostalgia, and personal narrative. Technically, I thought about texture, color, and layering.
The premise was to depict a sense of place. This painting was based on a satellite image of a church parking lot in which I rode bikes and scooters often as a kid. Here I thought again about finding abstract spiritual meaning in places of worship. Before this, I had never made a big, ugly painting before and I wanted to try my hand at it. I will say, I don't love this painting and I probably will not do more like it. But there is something to be gained. Using a knife and gel medium, I was able to build more texture and activate a small amount of visual interest in the textural surface of the canvas. I attempted to desaturate colors and avoid using out-of-the-bottle hues, opting to not mix my colors and create more interest. I toed the line of abstraction in this painting, which I have not really done before. I think I will retreat from abstraction after this project, but I will apply the scale and textural/mixing techniques to my more realistic paintings. aghgHhgGgh the deadline is rapidly approaching and there is still lots to do. Deadlines serve an important purpose (motivating us to work harder and allowing us to focus on what's important) but they also suck.
A fun thing that happened: When putting in the blue sky, the brushstrokes showed very prominently and it really wasn't attractive. So I decided to embrace it and used the most bristly brush I could find to create a textural element in the sky. And it turned out pretty well methinks. But it's to show that sometimes when artmaking things go directions that you don't expect them to. You learn to deal with it and make something better out of it. Progress with the colors is slow. I chose a relatively small size (12" by 18") to ensure that I would finish on time. Oil painting takes lots of time, especially for beginners. Maybe in the future I will choose a subject that is more tonal and less detailed. awareness Okuda San Miguel is perhaps one of the most globally recognizable artists in his style. His work is often brightly colored, geometrically rendered, and containing street art influences. Okuda rose to global prominence gradually for the last two decades. His art career began in the late 90s, when he painted murals on boxcars in his native Santander, Spain and after 2000 in Madrid. During this time he developed his distinctive visual style. He graduated from the Complutense University of Madrid (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) in 2007 with a Bachelor in Fine Arts. Complutense University one of the top universities in Spain with a strong reputation for prestige. In 2009, Okuda began working from his own studio space. This is the time that Okuda's work became internationally prominent. Okuda had been featured in a few international group exhibitions in Spain, France, Brazil, and Japan before 2009 and a few solo shows in Spain. But, partly due to the IAM international tour in 2009, his work reached more mature audiences and developed. Today, Okuda works personally from his Madrid studio and for large clients like Adidas and Kellogg's. Okuda's visual style is very unique. Described as Pop Surrealist, Okuda is known for his geometric, colorful, surreal style. Skulls, animals, triangles, and nude women frequently appear in his work. His work "[raises] contradictions about existentialism, the Universe, the infinite, the meaning of life, the false freedom of capitalism, and show a clear conflict between modernity and our roots; ultimately, between man and himself."
One thing to be learned from Okuda is that his work is successful because it's not safe. It is impossible to miss. He makes a name for himself in a way that no one will forget. His work takes up entire buildings, includes distinct visual imagery, and contains unconventional subjects. An observer cannot fail to notice Okuda's work. John Freyer's lecture was fascinating. His openness seeped through in the content and tone of his speech and I respect him a great deal for it. In addition, his craft, thought, and vision were particularly impressive.
I was amazed at the enormity of Freyer's work. When we think of art in the traditional sense, we think of paintings and sculptures in museums. The meaning of art is tied a great deal to the physical artwork, the aesthetics of it, the process of creation behind it, and the content it carries. But Freyer's work is more complex than this. For example, in Free Hot Coffee, the artwork is not just the bike or the coffee itself. The meaning of the artwork extends way beyond this. It isn't just the coffee, it's the conversation behind it. It's the mutual understanding and the personal camaraderie. It's the physical experience of grinding the coffee. It's the aromatic experience of the coffee. It's the temperature of the coffee; it's called "Hot" coffee for a reason. It's the sense of purpose for those in recovery. It incorporates allies along with those who are recovering. It's an artwork that has inspired international action on this issue. It is a symbol for civil protest on the Virginia Capitol for better substance laws. In this way, Free Hot Coffee is not about the physical artwork. It's about the huge, complex web of humans and experiences surrounding it. Free Ice Water has a similar effect. The artwork is focused on the physical object much more, but the object is just a token of the conversation. Again, the artwork is the conversation, the personal connection, and the art of listening. The jar just serves as a reminder of that personal connection. According to Freyer, participants cherish their jars for this reason. The most remarkable part of Freyer's work for me is this escape from the physical object of the art. It is another level to think of artmaking as a social process instead of a physical one. As a student, I've developed the physical process of creativity a good deal. But at this point in my artistic career, I rarely operate in the next level. Truly meaningful art rarely fits into our traditional perception of what art is. Trying new thingsWhile visiting the Washington National Cathedral, I was struck my the beauty of a blossoming cherry tree in the Bishop's Garden. I have always liked cathedrals, even as a noninstitutionalized person - their size and magnificence. But standing by this weeping cherry tree, I found a similarly spiritual experience. I thought about the juxtaposition of two testaments to God's glory. One is man-made, high, stoney, and ornate while the other is knobbly, organic, imperfect, and beautiful. Although I did not grow up Christian and I don't identify as one now, my spirituality was stirred.
On the technical side of things, I am finally trying to paint with oils. Due to the high level of detail, this is an exceptionally ambitious exploratory painting into a new medium. So far, it's going well. Brunaille painting is not as difficult as I thought it would be. Hopefully, this will lead into more oil paintings and more high-quality work. |