The Tyranny of Reality...Tales from an Artist's Journal..Part 10..Illustrated.
The Tyranny of Reality...Tales from an Artist's Journal..Part 10..Illustrated. belongs to the following groups:
Complex Simplicity of Art, All Around the Styles, AW Welcome Center, Canadiana - (limit 3/day), Contemporary Professional Painters and Sculptors, Decorative and Traditional Art, If it doesn't belong, Light In The Darkness, Live, Love, Dream: , Mature Woman, Safe Haven and The PatchworkWhen I first started to paint seriously, I knew that with my watercolour landscapes at least, there would be no slavish copying of nature, but rather I would try to depict what I considered to be the essence of nature…since I painted only in winter, my summer landscapes would be essentially what I remembered….my winter landscapes, though benefitting from the fact that 6ft. of snow was right outside my door, are painted in the same style….moments recollected in tranquillity.
When we are overloaded with subject matter, we have an automatic tendency to neglect style and imagination. Subject matter is no match for spirit. Too much observation can change the creative event from one of spirit to one of rendering. Surprise, chance, illusion, personality, audacity, confidence and desire are the most affected. Abandonment and even desertion may have to be contemplated.
Sad to say, but glorious nature stomps on creativity. The artist becomes not a master, but a slave. On the other hand, reflecting in tranquility, uncluttered by overabundance and the need to get reality right, one is free to pass to another level. “Reality,” said Joyce Cary, “is a narrow little house which becomes a prison for those who can’t get out.”
In 1970, the distinguished critic and social theorist Roland Barthes wrote, “Painting can feign reality without having seen it.” Time and again this idea is what makes timid artists brave. Those who dare to “feign reality” are in the agreeable business of surprising themselves. It’s anticipated surprise that keeps us at our easels. We hardly know of an evolved artist in any field who doesn’t understand this. “The job of art,” said Francoise Sagan, “is to take reality by surprise.”
Bogging down in detail will spoil the fun every time. Clive Bell, another critic lashing out in the age of hyperrealism, noted, “Detail is the fatty degeneration of art.” He has a point. Fat is tyranny. Reduce.
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, and this, and not the external manner and detail, is true reality.” (Aristotle)
Many significant artists might say that the opposite is true, and for many, it is. Artists with no respect for or understanding of reality can be a slave to their own imaginations. When these imaginations are shallow, which they sometimes are, there’s nothing like a shot or two of the real world. One of the hazards of art instruction is where you suggest one person might loosen up, and you tell another to start looking more carefully at things. Within earshot, people are getting the opposite information. It’s not like accountancy at all.
Extracts are from Robert Genn, an international painter who runs an art listing site called “The Painter’s Keys…
Linda Callaghan
very interesting read Janis – it is somewhat confusing when starting out painting as to what style and road to take…whether to loosen up or pay attention to detail (as mentioned in this piece) ..this is actually my dilemma.! People like all sort of art whether it be realistic or abstract – and some people paint for themselves and some to please; still at the end of the day all art is to be enjoyed and embraced no matter what the style. Thanks for sharing this very insightful piece of writing. :-)
Janis Zroback replied
You’re very welcome Linda…but first and foremost I believe an artist should paint to please him/herself…there is always an audience out there for your particular kind of work and you’ll find them sooner or later…when you find yourself in a dilemma over a piece, I find the best thing to do is to go with your first instinct…agonising over it will end up conveying that agony to the viewer, and it will end up being either overworked or contrived….actually you can pay attention to detail and loosen up in the same piece…it just means you have to decide which detail you’re going to focus on..
Mark Ramstead
We all take away something different when we choose what is interesting about a scene. Taking that essence and creating something of beauty with it is what art is all about.
Often young artists get distracted by the overwhelming number of decisions open to them. The real issue is that they make the decision they can work with when interpreting what they see, to what they can do. If it works, and if they have taste, they will learn quickly.
Janis Zroback replied
That is so true…well said, and thank you so much for adding your insights…
kjgordon
Okay now I am really confused about my art…I have stated that I have no clue of what I am doing..
I am not sure which direction to take many times…......
but I like what you said …........”Bogging down in detail will spoil the fun every time”
this is so true..when I get so flustered in the details I have to stop …...many times covering up what I just painted…....
I do enjoy reproducing pictures…..........but many times my boyish imagination takes me to anther dimension…......
mahalo for your Guruness…......
Janis Zroback replied
But you are stating the exact dilemma every artist goes through…you are certainly not alone…many well established and succesful artists who make a great living by their work, have the same problems, no matter how long they’ve been painting..cropping a finished work to show the best part is common, and famous artists of the past did it on a regular basis…e.g.many times Jackson Pollock would only use sections of his largest works and discard the rest…
In your style of work, relying on your boyish imagination is key…
muckypup
Thank you for sharing. It sheds some light on why I love taking photos of nature but hate painting it in detail, yet love just grabbing a brush (or using my hands :p) and losing hours in enjoyment. :D
Janis Zroback replied
And you should just go with the flow…if you love it, it will will show in the finished piece….no matter how other people paint, you are the only one who can do what you do best…it is really easy to spot when an artist struggled with a painting…every drop of blood, sweat and tears show in the finished piece…that is not what art is all about…at least that’s what I believe, and I think many would agree with me..
kjgordon
if you say so, but I still do not have a clue what I am doing…....
(combination of colors, stroke technique, dimension, proportions…... to name a few…......)
Janis Zroback replied
It must be subconcious…. :))
Alison Pearce
Fascinating read Janis and such beautiful artwork!
Janis Zroback replied
Thank you Alison…glad you enjoyed it.
Jim Phillips
I enjoyed reading that. I guess I’m the Popeye of the art world. Meaning “I am what I am!”
Janis Zroback replied
Glad you enjoyed it Jim….I am what I am as well…I can’t be anything else
Joanne Bradley
Always informative with great visual aids! :-)
Janis Zroback replied
Thank you Joanne..glad you liked it.
catherine walker
Good read ..thanks janis..I must be like kjgorden above..and most times I haven’t a clue what I’m doing ..colours just appear on my canvas without much mixing or thought on my behalf.. almost like a little compute in my brain is doing it for me..? though I do know I mixed the colours..I wouldn’t know how to get a certain green or blue or any other colour ever again..interesting that the subconcious can have so much say..or do in this case..strange that I have to wait until a certain time or inspiring moment ..then there’s a real need to paint..but honest I rarely even know how I do it ..good thing is that I do suprise myself a lot with what comes out or up….not just my audience gets a suprise…hha!!
much love
xxxooo
Janis Zroback replied
It is good that you can do it when inspired….it would be terrible if you couldn’t…
catherine walker
hhha!!... yes I know..Like now..like recently…
xxxooo