Cat Study

Study
oil on 8 by 10 inch panel
in progress - blocking stage

I am painting cats now.  

An Interesting challenge:  a subject that never behaves predictably.  

They are easier to deal with than humans and their egos.  

OLD CANVASES ARE OPPORTUNITIES

A painting I am unhappy with.

I have a lot of canvases that I am just not happy with.  The above one was mostly an experiment in glazing.  I learned a lot from it, so it was not a waste of time.  

Certain paints are too opaque for the glazing techniques.

The first monochrome layer laid down should have had more time invested.

So, I scrumbled some thined titanium white over it.  Not exactly glazing but the strong primary colors were muted. as well as the ivory black at the edges.

This is the begining of a search for form in this unstructured canvas.

After a little drying, but not enough to prevent mixing, added more thin paint layers.  At this point, the concern about not wasting the canvas fades, and I can really do what I intended.   Ask what happens if I do this and find out.

I rotate the canvas and a cat emerges, more like a dream of a cat.  Not intended; but, I have two in the studio, so they will make it into stream of consciousness efforts like this one.

Anyway, I will stop the post here since the feel of the painting has seriously changed.  I will still work on it.   Funny, when you read history a lot of paintings took years to finish.  I wonder why I expect to finish in hours?

 

Artist: JMW Turner
Landscape with Water

Now what makes a painting attractive?  

If we are were talking about flies, then the answer is scent.  

My silly friend, we are discussing people.  Specifically, people who want to purchase our paintings.   

Ah, yes, my print of the Turner I keep on the wall.  The original is worth a lot of money these days.  I'm glad the museum has not sold it.  Prints are good, but nothing replaces being in front of the it.

Did you know he actually made a living as an artist?  He was not wealthy, but his works supported him.

He had patrons who supported his career by collecting and commissioning works.  And, he worked his way through his education employed by architects and artists.  Remember, he did not live in our world. Having a patron was being employed in those days.

His painting were popular, even the ones that approached abstraction, like the print on the wall.

A good start for our subject.

Apparently he was reclusive, and the following puzzles me, did not really care about about how long his pigments would retain their color.   His work faded quickly, a fact the critic Ruskin complained about in his writings.

A clue of sorts..

John Ruskin was the critic of his time.  If Ruskin was writing about your work, those who read articles by art critics would take the time to see your work.  Generally, this was middle class to wealthy people who were not working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.  To get noticed by Ruskin, you had to have your work accepted in the salons and shows of the age.

For this to work you had to have talent.  You had to hone that talent.  You had to put your work into the public eye for Art Critics to see.

So, you really didn't need to be an extroverted showman.  JMW Turner certainly wasn't that.

Today's world is a lot different.

For starters, our poor has the time to appreciate art, if they so desire.  There are a huge number of industries that employ artists.  It is possible to survive without selling one's own art.  

Oh, Patrons still exist, but they are not as prominent as they were in the 18th and 19th centuries.

No one has to leave their house and go to a gallery to see new art.  That is an option.  We have the internet, thus the world.  For all practical purposes, Turner was limited to London, and the European wealthy classes.

The world's population is what, around 8 billion right now.  Let's say 7 billion are not, for whatever reason, not interested in purchasing art.  That leaves 1 billion potential customers.  Say two artists for every customer.  That is two billion artists competing for attention.

Exactly how should I comprehend those numbers?

I can't.

We, my silly friend, are looking at this wrong.

Okay.  Okay.  

A bowl of cat food is set on the floor; and, Alex's patience pays off.   Her artist limps toward a camera tripod and he ends the video feed, called Alex vs Alex.   It's time for him to paint.

 

Thoughts on Appearance

Confidence in myself is not easy to acquire.   It never has been for me.  I am not outgoing and my physical appearance is average.  

Appearance does matter in life.  It's harder to ignore this in the age of social media; but, its been around forever.  The king will attract the best looking girl in the kingdom, etc.  

Nothing stands out about me visually.  It sucks when I am trying to sell a piece, or get attention on social media, and I am dismissed imeadiately because I don't look the part.  But, that is a marketing issue, not art. I can be coldly analytical about that. There are ways around such annoyances.

About the only thing, right now, that I seem to have confidence in is my ability to draw and paint.  Im not perfect; but, I still have time to correct that little detail.  

 Artist's "see" more than most people; and, that is because they force themselves to look at what is there, or it comes naturally to them. Thus, this sensitivity to appearance. 

What does this have to do with confidence?  Well, I don't actually see a connection between confidence and appearance.  One's appearance can make social interactions easier, but that is about it.  

Alex
Ink on paper. 
4 by 6 inch 

A cat appears confident.   Why?   We are probably projecting onto cats how we wish to be.  Not afraid to jump from couch to chair, always fighting back, and not afraid to ask for what they want.  Fearless little predators, perhaps that is what we want to be.

Perhaps, confidence is simply people who have either mastered their fears, or are oblivious to their surroundings and the stuff that could hurt them.  How can you tell the difference?  Generally, one is a child and the other is a grown up.  

Something to think about, anyway.

The latest ink drawings.  The cat is drawn using a reference photograph as a guide.  The other two are from the imagination.  There is a difference in the appearance of the drawings, although I am hardpressed to verbalise what that difference is.

Ink is one of my favorite mediums to work with.  Part of my education included working with pencil and ink both for illustration and working out ideas.  If you are curious, I do have MArch and BS architecture degrees.  

Drawing from imagination is a fun exercise.  You dont have to secure a model, take a picture, or anything like that.  It's just you, the paper, and your memories.  However, drawing from life, or a photograph, requires you to actually see whats in front of you.  More difficult than it sounds.  If you draw, you probably understand.

I guess the point of this post is that:  Never limit oneself to the fun exercises.  Its too easy to stagnate,