Hi-Res Photos

Most of you probably already know about Sotheby's hi-res photos of paintings they have sold, but for those who don't, it is a great resource. If you go to the sold lot archive to search for someone you will get more images, where as if you just search from the search box you will only get what is currently up for auction, or will be soon. Most all of the images I have viewed are extremely clear when zoomed in on, to the point of seeing brushstrokes clearly. Luckily, Sotheby's has sold almost all of the "masters" at some point, so odds are they will have something for you. You can get there through www.sothebys.com. Enjoy!!

Trusting Our Intuition

Currently I am reading Blink, by Malcom Gladwell, who also wrote Tipping Point. The book is really pretty interesting, and is all about the decisions that take place in our subconcious mind, that tend to be more reliable than we might think. Our minds can take all of our experiences and expertise, and in a fraction of a second make a snap judgement about something, which we tend to call our gut feeling. Gladwell makes the case that when we overcomplicate decisions, by analyzing too much we are actually negating one of our greatest assets, which is our intuition.

This made me start thinking of how this can relate to an artist's work, and it is quite obvious. When most of us went through drawing, and particularly figure drawing classes, we learn to do gesture drawing, or most certainly quick sketches at first. This exercise can sometimes be confusing to a lot of students who would rather have a system to tell them how to draw a figure, for instance. However, at some point we have to learn to trust our intuition more, even if it is in the initial stages of a drawing or painting. In my own experience, some of the best drawings have developed from this subconcious way of working. It may be that we really need to have a firm grip on the figure, or fundamentals of drawing, before we can access them in our subconcious. But the marks made in a less than cerebral mode do seem to be truer to the figure, and tend to be closer to the gesture or pose.

This is probably fairly obvious to most artists, but it is well worth putting thought into next time you start a work. Just see what part comes from intuition, and what parts were analyzed. There is probably a great balance of the two modes, and I would love to hear everyones thoughts on this.

Paul Cezanne

In keeping with the thoughts mentioned below, I thought I would discuss Cezanne, from my point of view. Being considered the father of modern art may have some artists thinking of Cezanne as overrated, and therefore written off as more of hype than substance. We all have our favorite artists, and my list grows continuously, but I always seem to come back to Cezanne.

It is Cezanne's later works from which I have gained the most insight into his "genius." But it wasn't until I read "Cezanne's Compostition," by Erle Loran, that I truly realized what Cezanne was doing, and doing well. Cezanne was able to manipulate space in a new and revolutionary way. It is this space that he created, that keeps me coming back, as well as his ability to "direct" a viewer. It is like he is almost telling our eyes, in some instances, how to view his world.

I could really never do this conversation justice by trying to explain what I am seeing, so I strongly recommend getting the book by Loran. There is also a limited preview on Google books at: http://books.google.com/books?id=0owOFFLVLqEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cezzanes+composition&ei=y-FRS96zIomuzQTw6I2WDA&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false. The book contains plenty of illustrations showing just how Cezanne exaggerated certain things to force the eye certain ways, or create a tension between objects. There are also pictures of the actual motif he was painting from, compared to his painting of it. For instance, Cezanne would set up still lives with every object having a certain function to the picture as a whole. He was able to tilt things just enough by lifting them with coins, to get that bit of tension between objects that would force space in his way.

No matter what your opinion is of Cezanne, and whether you feel he is overrated or not, there is something for any painter to be learned from his works. It may not all be clear at first, but with real study and, of course, the book mentioned here, Cezanne can help any painter to understand the possibilities of composition. Every painter has to think of composition at some point in a painting, and one must realize the many opportunities there exists to create space. To me, space is a vital component of painting, and Cezanne did this in a brilliant way. Most artists have already discovered Cezanne, and his composition, so this is more of a plea to those who haven't to really study what he was doing. It can only help to create better work in the long run.

Random Thoughts

When I was in the university art system we were allowed all the freedom in the world, which was great, but we weren't taught the fundamentals. We didn't really get a grasp of our materials, or what they were capable of. Luckily there is a resugence of small schools and ateliers, which teach and promote this awareness. There has to be a way to marry the two worlds. It is my opinion, that this would allow an artist to have the tools and knowledge to create what their freedom of expression saught to create. Maybe it is just a dream, but surely there is someplace that does this. Anyone out there know of such a place, let me know?



While on this subject of seperateness in the art world, here is another thought. Too many times I have heard, or read, about how one painter or another has done nothing of value. This is not just relegated to one school or another, but is found throughout. I have always been of the mindset that if I don't understand what makes a particular painter great, then I must find out. There seems to be a way of thinking that just because an artists' greatness is not immediately clear, then they have nothing to offer. That is just not true. Almost always there is something to be learned in a painting, whether you see it right away or not. Don't sell yourself short. If you don't see what is so great about a painting, then study them until you do. More often than not you will learn something, whether minor or life changing, it is how we grow as artists. With the internet we have access to enough information about anything, or anyone, so we have no excuse.



I will be writing from time to time about these things, but it is always just my opinion. So feel free to disagree, or agree. We all have opinions, and are all free to express them.

Our State magazine article

We have been featured in the Our State magazines' January 2010 issue, which can be read by clicking on the link on our site. http://www.blueridgeoilpaint.com/oilpaintcolors.html.

What's On Your Palette??

In our recent newsletter I asked everyone to send me a list of what they keep on their palette as their go-to colors, as well as any others that are helpful. The response has been really great, and has been very interesting, as well as helpful. Like I said in the newsletter, I am now able to make time to get back to the easel more, and am finding it hard to narrow my colors down, as I just have too many choices. But this information also helps me get an idea of what colors are must have additions to our line up in the future. I am somehow going to digest this information I am getting into a blog post, as well as a newsletter article. So, for anyone reading this, please let me know what you use as well. We can use all the information we can get to produce a concrete list of the most common, and not so common, colors used by you, the artist. Please send us your list to info@blueridgeartist.com. Also, if you haven't signed up for the newsletter you can do so from our site or, email us to add you. We look forward to hearing from you.

Paint Review on Wetcanvas

For those of you who have wondered how our paints compare to the other top brands, there is a very thorough review at wetcanvas.com. Click title to go there. The review was written by Jim Harris, the true paint guru, who reviewed us about a year ago as well. Since then we have improved greatly, so it was nice to see that it showed up in the comparisons. This also gives great feedback on which to improve things further. Every batch is scrutinized, and somehow made better, so this gives us a direction for some of the colors. We are also going to look into putting some sort of color swatch on the tubes to help with identification. Our last attempt at this didn't really pan out, so we know what to do different this time around. As always, we cherish your thoughts on everything we do around here, so feel free to tell us at info@blueridgeartist.com.