Hi friends!
This past Saturday I was listening to the radio on the drive to Austin to visit my son when a great little talk about jazz music and how the scene has changed over the years came on. At some point, they played a few notes of BB King and it started me thinking how even hearing just one note from BB King tells you it's BB!
Of course this made me translate it all to visual art. You look at many famous artists and you can often name them pretty quickly for their look. Look closer and the immediate recognition is due to a type of stroke, a color combination, a line, a subject...on and on! I am sure you could study the mark Van Gogh made that said wind or cloud or tree etc., isolate it and recognize it as his!
So, what does that mean for us? I believe we each have our own natural tendencies. Pretty amazing to think of; as many people as there are in the world and we each lay a line down in our on remarkable style. Even as beginners, you likely had a certain way of approaching a canvas or drawing all your own.
I believe we all SEE in our own way too and that a great deal of seeing is not just based on the eye, of course, but interpretation, influences and opinions from a very early age and long held beliefs and feelings concerning particular colors and subject matter etc.
One of the great acts we can take in elevating our work, taking it to the next level, is noticing our uniqueness...taking a very close look at what we do, keeping the intriguing elements, editing out those which do not serve us well and enhancing our unique qualities!! Once you start to define what it is that makes that painting yours; do whatever it takes to emphasize those qualities: elongate, brighten, darken etc; enhancing in some way to bring out the greater YOU!
For myself; I notice my organic shapes, the way a line varies, tonal variations and a tendency for strong composition and balance. I try to find ways to build and enhance those natural tendencies. What have you noticed about YOUR unique qualities?
Please share YOUR thoughts by clicking on the POST A COMMENT below then use your google account or click on the ANONYMOUS choice , write your comment and add your name at the end, if you'd like it to show; then hit PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT. Thank you , Bonny
5 comments:
Looking forward to hearing from YOU!
Bonny you put the painter's creative process beautifully into words. For me when I look back at my work I see how I have grown in the way I paint, what I paint and what I paint with. That growth is not just about painting it's about me. I used to think I had better hurry up and get a "style" when I realized just what you expressed. I can see a common thread all the way through my work. I bet if I still had my work from Kindergarten I would be able to see me in it. I love line/drawing it comes natural for me since I have been drawing for so long. I started taking painting/color seriously in 1987. I am just starting to feel comfortable working with what felt like two different parts for so long. That just maybe the same as my life at the ripe old age of 54 things start coming together. The events, people, spirituality in my life all affect my art but I can still see the thread of Randy running through it. And God ain't through with me yet! See I'm not an eloquent writer but I think no matter when in life anyone starts painting their own "YOUnique" (i like it) process comes through.
Thank you for the Blog!
Randy
What an interesting question.
I know that other people think my sketch book experiments look "of a piece," which mystifies me because to me they're all over the place. Sometimes I try to be realistic, sometimes cartoony and sometimes abstract. Maybe it's the subjects I pick, or some ratio of darks and lights.
With my paintings, I'd have to say there's something about my colors. I adore color and am rarely afraid of it because it is my FRIEND!!
I'm developing compositional, subject, and application preferences.
We reveal ourselves through repetition, I think.
YOUnique is just that! You! Everyone is different and their uniqueness shows in their paintings! I remember my first oil painting class in Bartlesville, OK in 1984! We all painted a sketched country house with a creek and a bridge in front. Everyone's turned out differently, eventhough we used the same sketch to begin! I think Younique is wonderful! I am not aware of my style, yet. Though, I am told that I have one! I'm trying to see it, but I guess style is just natural... So, I just try to enjoy it! lol
I feel like my use of so much color and so many broad strokes reflect how i I have felt for the past three years! Bloominng color!
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