Getting Lost In a Stream of Have To's

Cold and blustery here the last couple of days. I have not been doing much art lately -- lost in a stream of partime job related activities, some fall (without the spring) cleaning, social obligationgs and helping my mother with some medical needs. I am taking my mom to an eye surgery tomorrow but hope to get to the opening of the Bryn Du Mansion Show in Granville tomorrow evening, though I need to drive back and forth a couple hundred miles to do so.

The Classical Art Forum on Wet Canvas had a project about the Fauves this month. I added my paintings. You can read some more about the Fauves here, if you would like.

I will have some time to myself this weekend -- will get out of the stream and into my studio then. I am starting to feel really depressed/crabby about not getting there.

Thanks for stopping by at my blog.

Artistic Style Part IV - Some Inspiring Realism

"Cute White Kitten" 12x9 inches, colored pencil on colorfix, $135 unframed, $165 matted and framed with plexiglass.

Giclee Reproductions also Available. Contact me.

In thinking about why I am currently working realistically, I will say the primary reason is choosing to depict animals and very much enjoying the connection with others that comes from a pet portrait commission. I do not seek to be what I consider to be "photo-realistic". I am motivated to bring the animal to life within the best of my capabilities without going down to such a minute/detailed level. Though intrigued by colored pencil when coming back to art, I was at first relunctant to try it because it seemed to be too "meticulous". I feel I currently work somewhere between how a soft pastelist works and traditional colored pencil techniques with my work. I was also taught that an artist needs to be able to do realism before finding/looking for another voice. That is, one must build an ability in speaking one language before attempting to translate that language into another. Or an artist should have ability with the basic tools and concepts and what has gone before in order to develop further in other artistic ways.

I never was extremely fond of the "photo-realism" which (pre-computers) copied a photograph in a very large format by using the squares or pixels. I did look at this art with a type of fasination at times, however. I just find some of these methods too miopic -- I don't feel I could get in a "zone" using them so exhaustively. However I am wondering if some of the works I currently admire wouldn't be considered more "photorelaistic" than "realistic" in style? I would like to know your opinion regarding this question. Here are some links to some contemporary realistic animal art that gave me chills when I first gazed upon them: a horse portrait on Wet Canvas by Linda Jonsson of Sweden,

Pastel Goat by Nutty at the Pet Portrait and Wildlife Forum, Haflinger Portrait-"Nuss" by Sabine Lackner, also at the Pet Portrait and Wildlife Forum,

and last but, certainly not least, all of the work by Melanie Phillips.

I am currently intrigued with "the bringing to life" aspect of realism. It is an enthralling challenge for me to try to get it right. I am experimenting on developing facility with colored pencil techniques as I do this. I am most in the zone when using hand and eye coordination to develop the work as a whole. I think I am in one of those repitious circles of life by improving my work in the basics and going from there in whatever develops.

Artistic Style Part III -- Did you See O'Keeffe?

A very interesting stallion in a colorful field - maybe a pintaloosa?

So did you get to see the Georgia O'Keeffe documentary on the Lifetime channel? What are your reactions? Mona Majorowicz had mentioned it in her blog, Fur In the Paint. I got to see it last night. I wish they had shown more of her paintings when they were showing her life in New Mexico. Otherwise, I loved getting to see a film about an artist. It drives home the dedication that a true artist has for her for work. She was such a free spirit. I greatly admire how she remained true to her self in her art and in her life. She really did pave a way for women to be more recognized in Fine Art.

I did look at a lot of her work and read about her in the 70's and 80's. Spent this morning earlier looking at information about her on the net. I like the Wikpedia write-up. And here is a less than flattering review of the film, I don't agree with it all, but it does give a little more detail about some facts of her life and I think it is from an unsual blog. I may visit this blog again for a little more reading about other women.

So if you have any remarks about the film or about your feelings about O'Keeffe's art and life, I would love to hear them in a comment here.