Kenneth F's Art Discovery Blog

Entry for Dec 1, 2006

Work proceeds well in the studio. Hard work over the past several years has paid off in regard to my technique.;I recently undertook a major painting that filled me with much in trepidation, a painting by Leonardo DaVinci of the Girl with Ermine. I undertook to paint it to the same size as the original. I was quite nervous about this project in that there are not a lot of Leonardo copies that are very good. I am very pleased with this interpretation. I gave myself the freedom to alter details in the painting, which I felt were less effective in the original. The resulting image has great impact. ;This is the fifth master painting, which I have copied. Two Vermeer's, a Raphael, a Caravaggio and the Leonardo. It has been a tradition throughout the history of art, to make copies of master works. It is really one of the best self-instruction methods available to the serious student. When Rubens was on a diplomatic mission to the Spanish Court, he copied all of the Titian paintings at court numbering in the teens as well as a number of paintings of the royal family and other master copies in just a few months. One of the greatest artists of the last century Romare Bearden, spent a couple years drawing old master paintings on butcher paper. The resultant effect helped lead to the brilliance of his work. Today in the postmodern climate that we live in, everything is all immediate impact. No technique or mastery is appreciated. In fact, much is discussed about post-studio art in which the art is essentially not created by the artist but is participatory and sort of a happening applicable to relevant social and gender issues. The debate is not about the merit of this approach to art, it is how do we receive funding since no object is created other than very cheap, very unaesthetic computer documentation (because we really don't want to go historically backward and make a product for God's sake).In this atmosphere, artist dedicated to improving the aesthetic basis of their art seem as relevant as a dinosaur. I suppose I don't enjoy being a throw-back to the precivilization era but, it is what interests me. In fact, after many years of studying Rubens painting procedure, I have finally found out the essential nature of his panel painting process. It is much simpler than I imagined. For years I have experimented with different approaches to simulate the efficiency of his technique, but I believe that I have now found the exact nature of his procedure. This has not only given great pleasure but, has produced some proto-type paintings that are incredibly fast and wonderfully precise. I do love Rubens paintings. In museums his panel paintings have a wonderful air circulating through the works showing up in different places. This gives his paintings a much more dynamic look than so many of the other masters that have such leaden opaque paint. So I go forward with my experimentation, painting what I want-when I want. I have also been painting a series of abstract work which has been a continual but unshown part of my production for many years. I feel that no real representational work is possible without a strong basis in abstraction. After all nature is the great abstracting force that we must embrace. Everything is in transition, nature rearranges, destroys, creates and for representation to be of the highest quality, it must emulate the process of nature. Art is a great joy and an all consuming flame, living without the creative process in some form seems unimaginable.

2007-04-09 19:22:48 GMT

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		Entry for Dec 1, 2006 Work proceeds well in the studio. Hard work over the past several years has paid off in regard to my technique.;I recently undertook a major painting that filled me with much in trepidation, a painting by Leonardo DaVinci of the Girl with Ermine. I undertook to paint it to the same size as the original. I was quite nervous about this project in that there are not a lot of Leonardo copies that are very good. I am very pleased with this interpretation. I gave myself the freedom to alter details in the painting, which I felt were less effective in the original. The resulting image has great impact. ;This is the fifth master painting, which I have copied. Two Vermeer's, a Raphael, a Caravaggio and the Leonardo. It has been a tradition throughout the history of art, to make copies of master works. It is really one of the best self-instruction methods available to the serious student. When Rubens was on a diplomatic mission to the Spanish Court, he copied all of the Titian paintings at court numbering in the teens as well as a number of paintings of the royal family and other master copies in just a few months. One of the greatest artists of the last century Romare Bearden, spent a couple years drawing old master paintings on butcher paper. The resultant effect helped lead to the brilliance of his work. Today in the postmodern climate that we live in, everything is all immediate impact. No technique or mastery is appreciated. In fact, much is discussed about post-studio art in which the art is essentially not created by the artist but is participatory and sort of a happening applicable to relevant social and gender issues. The debate is not about the merit of this approach to art, it is how do we receive funding since no object is created other than very cheap, very unaesthetic computer documentation (because we really don't want to go historically backward and make a product for God's sake).In this atmosphere, artist dedicated to improving the aesthetic basis of their art seem as relevant as a dinosaur. I suppose I don't enjoy being a throw-back to the precivilization era but, it is what interests me. In fact, after many years of studying Rubens painting procedure, I have finally found out the essential nature of his panel painting process. It is much simpler than I imagined. For years I have experimented with different approaches to simulate the efficiency of his technique, but I believe that I have now found the exact nature of his procedure. This has not only given great pleasure but, has produced some proto-type paintings that are incredibly fast and wonderfully precise. I do love Rubens paintings. In museums his panel paintings have a wonderful air circulating through the works showing up in different places. This gives his paintings a much more dynamic look than so many of the other masters that have such leaden opaque paint. So I go forward with my experimentation, painting what I want-when I want. I have also been painting a series of abstract work which has been a continual but unshown part of my production for many years. I feel that no real representational work is possible without a strong basis in abstraction. After all nature is the great abstracting force that we must embrace. Everything is in transition, nature rearranges, destroys, creates and for representation to be of the highest quality, it must emulate the process of nature. Art is a great joy and an all consuming flame, living without the creative process in some form seems unimaginable. 2007-04-09 19:22:48 GMT Site Home