Starting Points, Ending Points
(Originally Posted on 10-10-2010)
It seems to me that I spend a great deal of time considering where the concepts for my art start. I do this because my ending points are not always very closely related to the starting points.
One artist I know, John Karl Claes, is very structured, very organized in his idea development. He paints landscapes in an expressionistic yet representational way. In preparation for a flurry of work, Claes will develop sheets of storyboards with concepts sketched out. It is from this storyboard that he begins his process of producing paintings that ranges from miniature (3? x 3?) to very large (70? x 60?). It is not evident that size matters to Claes at this point, it is the composition and the elements withing each painting that matter. Each of his paintings always starts with a drawing.
The starting points for me are not consistent. Unlike my friend Claes, I am not formally trained. I do not have the hours of class time studying past masters and art theory. I do not have the opinions and instructions from art professors as part of my thought process. Whether this is an advantage or disadvantage is a question left completely for another discussion. It is what it is for me. I do not have the choice now to be other than what I am, a self taught artist. I do study past masters, but only those I want to learn from. I do read art theory, art appreciation and I absorb great amounts of passive instruction from the how and why artists do things. I study the processes of artists I know.
Within my mind are many ideas which are sparked from just as many sources. Live experiences, scenes and patterns captured in my memory, paintings by other artists, photographs, or just some crazed concept that formed all by itself outside of my conscious control.
My starting points include drawing out concepts on a sketch pad using graphite and colored pencil.
I have a small satchel that has all the implements I need and it is with me most of the time when I travel. I use it to sketch out ideas that show up in my mind. Some of these develop into complete concepts and are used to create a painting.
I will at times use my computer, though not as frequently as I did in the past. The computer helps me work with colors looking for a pallet for a specific concept that is already well defined.
I will draw directly on the canvas with a pencil or oil stick and develop the concept in that way.
I also develop concepts directly on the canvas with very little thought before hand. I often start with existing paint that I’ve mixed and is perhaps left over from a completed painting. Looking back over the pas 3 years, the paintings I have created this way, using the least amount of thought before the start, are all sold. These have been the most appreciated paintings because they have been the paintings I have exchanged for the ever loving and sought after filthy lucre. (Is there a lesson here for me?)
It does not matter where my concepts start, the end result is more often quite different than the idea I imagined when I started developing it. Once the paint is on the brush and being applied to the canvas, my control of the end result becomes detached from the first idea very quickly. It is during this step that the painting is actually made. Unlike the artists who know exactly what they plan to paint and therefore steer the painting to that end, it is my inner self, my spirit, my emotions, my sense of well being (or not), my view of my world and so forth that take control of the process and steer my decisions throughout the process.
I like it that this is the way I work. The strictly disciplined and controlled approach that works for so many others would be too confining for me. My other life where I actually earn filthy lucre, by which I feed and shelter myself and my family, has all the disciplined and controlled elements that I need. When I am standing with brush in hand loaded with oil paint, I find great release when I can shut off the formal part of my life and escape to where I really want to live and let the energy flow.
Although my starting points vary in kind and process, and though they rarely seem to match up with the ending points, I am convinced that they live in the same time but may well be from different universes and this is the way I travel between them.
It seems to me that I spend a great deal of time considering where the concepts for my art start. I do this because my ending points are not always very closely related to the starting points.
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| Afterwards by JKC |
The starting points for me are not consistent. Unlike my friend Claes, I am not formally trained. I do not have the hours of class time studying past masters and art theory. I do not have the opinions and instructions from art professors as part of my thought process. Whether this is an advantage or disadvantage is a question left completely for another discussion. It is what it is for me. I do not have the choice now to be other than what I am, a self taught artist. I do study past masters, but only those I want to learn from. I do read art theory, art appreciation and I absorb great amounts of passive instruction from the how and why artists do things. I study the processes of artists I know.
Within my mind are many ideas which are sparked from just as many sources. Live experiences, scenes and patterns captured in my memory, paintings by other artists, photographs, or just some crazed concept that formed all by itself outside of my conscious control.
My starting points include drawing out concepts on a sketch pad using graphite and colored pencil.
I have a small satchel that has all the implements I need and it is with me most of the time when I travel. I use it to sketch out ideas that show up in my mind. Some of these develop into complete concepts and are used to create a painting.
I will at times use my computer, though not as frequently as I did in the past. The computer helps me work with colors looking for a pallet for a specific concept that is already well defined.
I will draw directly on the canvas with a pencil or oil stick and develop the concept in that way.
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| Stimulus |
It does not matter where my concepts start, the end result is more often quite different than the idea I imagined when I started developing it. Once the paint is on the brush and being applied to the canvas, my control of the end result becomes detached from the first idea very quickly. It is during this step that the painting is actually made. Unlike the artists who know exactly what they plan to paint and therefore steer the painting to that end, it is my inner self, my spirit, my emotions, my sense of well being (or not), my view of my world and so forth that take control of the process and steer my decisions throughout the process.
I like it that this is the way I work. The strictly disciplined and controlled approach that works for so many others would be too confining for me. My other life where I actually earn filthy lucre, by which I feed and shelter myself and my family, has all the disciplined and controlled elements that I need. When I am standing with brush in hand loaded with oil paint, I find great release when I can shut off the formal part of my life and escape to where I really want to live and let the energy flow.
Although my starting points vary in kind and process, and though they rarely seem to match up with the ending points, I am convinced that they live in the same time but may well be from different universes and this is the way I travel between them.
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