Unify, Simplify, Amplify

Greetings again from the land of Zed.

Yesterday I said I'd talk about the other note on my easel in my studio.

That Note says: "Unify, Simplify, Amplify" I borrow the term from Ken Carbone over at

Co Design He uses  it for marketing advice but I think it applies very well to landscape painting also.

When we create a landscape painting it has no reason to exist other than it pleases the eye of the beholder. If it does not accomplish this there is nothing else that it can be used for other than to possibly re-use the canvas for another painting.

"Spring Light" (Final)  8x10 by M Francis McCarthy

So how does this motto this help us create beautiful pictures that deserve to be beheld? 

Let's beak it down with some bullets:

• Unify - This mean that every part of the painting should work with every other part. Some aspects dominant while others supportive but all parts must reflect and coordinate with each other to create a unified whole.
• Simplify - This directs us to look for and represent in our painting a simplified pattern of pleasing large shapes subdivided by smaller pleasing shapes. Simplifying the scene is vital to create unity and amplification. It is difficult to create unity from immense amounts of detail all vying for the eyes attention.
• Amplify - Much of what I said yesterday about "More Light, More Dark, More Color", falls into this area. Adding contrast and amping up the color create more interest and attraction for the viewer. However to sucessfully amplify a picture it must be clear before it is amplified. Otherwise you just get a loud mess. 

"Spring Light" (First Revision)  8x10 by M Francis McCarthy

Together these three ideas add up to better paintings. It's taken me awhile to apply these concepts to my landscape painting. But I always tried for a similar result when I worked as an illustrator. 

It's only recently that I've become aware of the core differences between illustrating and landscape painting. I will expound on this more in a future post as it's definitely something I thought I knew all about. In reality I had it Wrong with a capital "W".

"Spring Light" (Original Painting)  8x10 by M Francis McCarthy

Okay, Lets talk about what I did to "Spring Light". 

This painting has actually been revised twice. The original was painted last year and I repainted it around February. 

I had the original up on my studio wall for quite awhile and though I liked the atmospheric quality I was bothered by elements of the picture. Heres how I addressed those bothersome areas.

First revision:

• Removed the hill from the background. This was creating an unpleasant downward arrow where the tree and hill met.
• Softened the diagonal band of clouds in the sky.
• Simplified the background and the sky.
• In the foreground I painted in a path or river coming in from the right. This only sorta was an improvement. Still, I was happy to be abandoning my photo reference and be creating with just imagination.
• Added a clump of trees to the right side where the previous hill had crested.
• Closed off the left side clump of trees. This helps direct the viewer's eye in a more pleasing manner and creates intimacy in the scene as well.

The revised "Spring Path" sat on my wall for another few months. I was happier but still not satisfied. Heres what I did to reach the final version.

Second Revision:

• Lowered the hills and indicated the horizon with a streak of distant foliage.
• Reworked the sky losing the diagonal completely.
• Increased the lightness at the base of the sky.
• Painted away my previous path from the left adding a pool or puddle of water in the center instead.
• Made the meadow behind the trees brighter.
• Softened the tops of the trees in the clump on the right.

All in all I am pleased with the result. I feel that "Spring Light" now has a feeling of intimacy, space and a peaceful quality that rewards the viewer. 

"Spring Light" is currently on display at my studio in the Quarry Arts Center' Whangarei, New Zealand. Feel free to come and check it out.

Cheers,

More Light, More Dark, More Color

Howdy folks,

Back from my extended stay in the studio, amongst other worthwhile pursuits.

I'm still busily reworking paintings I've done over the last year. Not all of them but far more than I thought I would when I began this revision process a few months ago.

Generally speaking for most of my artistic life, I've been hesitant to revise my work.

However since I made a quantum leap in my understanding of painting a few months back. What painting is. What it can be and what I want it to be for me as an artist. I've had to change my way of working in light of this greater capacity to see and address the shortcomings of my paintings.

"Clearing Up Revised"  8x8 by M Francis McCarthy

One of the major insights I gained from my of my leap in understanding painting, was realizing that I can change anything I see that rings as false or that fails to create unity in my work, at any time and to whatever degree is necessary to bring the painting into a harmonious and unified state. Regardless of time already spent on the painting or it's fealty to to source material.

A painting must be a painting not just a reproduction of a scene in nature or referenced from a photo.

"Clearing Up"  8x8 by M Francis McCarthy

Todays image " Clearing up" was revised considerably by me just recently. 

I'm showing the previous version here below and the revised version at the top. I have used this image before on my blog and also had it up in a gallery here in New Zealand. 

The previous version isn't really that bad but there were things that bothered me like the tree trunk in the foreground and the mass of trees to the left felt too solid. Also, I liked the atmosphere of the sky but the strong diagonals there bothered me.

So, given these misgivings, why did I proudly display the image here and in a gallery?

I did it because I felt at the time I'd "finished" the piece that there was nothing else I could do to it. The reasons for this attitude are too extensive for the blog format. Suffice it to say I'm a believer in finishing things and then moving on.

This leads onto todays topic More Light, More Dark, More Color.

I have this statement taped to the easel in my studio. It is one of two mottos taped there. The other will be explored in another blog post later.

More Light, More Dark, More Color means that a painting can be dark even very dark and succeed as long as there is strong light as well. In fact there must be one to have the other and I want those strong contrasts in my work as they create stronger feeling in the painting.

More color means just that. I'm not afraid to ramp those colors up to extreme levels of saturation if necessary.  No longer will I hold back that aspect in my work, for the same reason as kicking up the lights and darks. More color combined with stronger darks and brighter lights equals even more feeling and emotive content.

Here's what I did to "Clearing Up":

• Painted another foreground tree to cover that annoying trunk from the previous version. 
• Created a sloping arc for the foreground hill, softening the previous slashing diagonal there. 
• Established  the horizon more clearly with less clutter. 
• In the sky I went with a strong twilight coloration.  
• Broke up the strong diagonals there and introduced more contrast.

In the lower left portion of the painting

• I placed a brook that followed the same compositional diagonal that was in the previous version . 
• Opened up the distant field and simplified it also amping up the color to a golden grass color. 
• The clump of trees on the left I made smaller. 
• Softened the harsh edges against the sky for all the trees breaking the horizon line.

Note: I used a revised painting of the original 5x5 oil sketch as an aid in repainting the larger 8x8. I did not refer to any photo reference. I'm learning more and more that working in this way creates far more depth in my paintings as well as creatinbg a sort of magical quality that I'm very happy with.

Cheers,

Landscape Painting - Narrative

It's autumn here in New Zealand. Getting colder and darker everyday now. 

I'm still getting used to the season flip from the US and the fact that theres not going to be a halloween in two weeks.

Today I want to chat about "narrative" in art. I am not an expert on art terms or art history being self taught. So my ideas about narrative may be different from the orthodox view. To define the term narrative as it relates to landscape painting, I mean, contextualized artifacts that create stories.

I avoid narrative in my painting. That means I do not put people in my landscapes or even things like houses, fences, fence posts, cows, sheep etc.

My Studio "just painted" area

I've no issue with artists that use these elements in their work. In fact I know first hand that they're handy for solving many compositional problems. For me, those benefits are outweighed by the attention these focal points draw and more importantly the narrative that is generated when they are present.

For example, if I paint a young girl with a basket into a scene of a field. Many questions about her and her situation are created. Where is she going? Is she happy? What's in the basket? Do her parent's own the field? 

Or if I paint an old barn in that field, you could ask, who works there? Is there anybody in that barn now? When was the last time anyone used that barn and so on.

On the other hand if I just paint a field with some trees and maybe a brook and an interesting sky. I've created a space that can be filled by the viewer of the painting without creating context. There is nothing between them and the emotive space that I've created for them to occupy. They are free to expand their consciousness into it and in so doing, relax and feel good.

Thats my goal and intention as a landscape painter if the truth be told. 

I wish for the viewers of my paintings to feel good but thats just the beginning of what I'm after. As they go deeper into the painting they might begin to wonder why we are all alive anyway and why is life so beautiful? 

Or they could begin to experience that feeling of stillness one has at that moment after the sun's just passed over the horizon and you find yourself deep in the seeming timelessness of the gloaming. A space between light and darkness and between life and death.

I should mention that my idol

George Inness

often painted figures into his works. Not only was he able to do this without the sort of repercussions I've mentioned, but his best painting easily achieve all the things that I wish for my paintings to do as well. 

All I can say is that Inness was a genius and that the rest of us must just do the best we can.

Cheers,

A bit about todays picture. This was taken today with my iphone at my studio in the

Quarry Arts Center Whangarei

, New Zealand

. The area of my studio pictured is to the right of where I paint and I set things there to dry and also keep recent things there to look at. 

Looking at one's work is nearly as important as painting it. I generally feel close to the work I've just painted. The word "enamored" comes to mind. 

However, more and more thats been replaced with a more critical mindset.

 I'm determined now more than ever to push each painting to the limit of what I can accomplish at this time. That means, more color, more contrast, more light, more darkness and no muddy half hearted scenes will be tolerated.

The work you do..

Hey all.

Been awhile since we've blogged together. 

I've been painting my ass off and the insights and inspirations are coming on intensely these days. So I've not as much energy for blogging. 

Fear not though as I will never completely cease this blog. As long as I am breathing anyway.

Onto todays topic. 

The work you do as an artist is vital to the health and well being of our culture and the universe at large. It is more than a commodity of whatever value it is ascribed. It is an expression of the universe that must occur.

"Along the Path" by M Francis McCarthy

I'm aware that this may strike some as airy fairy but none of us has all the answers. This blog is one place you can find a few that I've gleaned and hopefully they'll resonate if not, no worries. 

The identified self (often referred to as "ego) has a multitude of valuable uses for us as people. Without it we could not exist. 

However the ego makes poor art.

And yet even poor art needs to be created. And destroyed as well. As cliche as it sounds both are equally accurate statements.

If thats true, why should we try to create "good" art?

We should because it feels like the right thing to do at a core level of our beings. If your attitude as an artist is in alignment with the will of the universe, great art will be the by product. 

It is the individuated self that blocks this process in an attempt to do a job it was not created to do. That job is to CREATE and that is the work of the actual self not the ego.

We get in our own way. 

Often we are our own worst critics as well. As we paint we kill the baby as it's being born in our attempt to control the result or conform to misguided internal expectations.

This is why I'm reminding you that your job as an artist is valuable and important work. Even if you must struggle to let the great art come out. Rest assured that it's important or at least connected to something important.

Cheers,

A bit about "Along the Path". This is one of the high points of my old way of working and actually the culmination of many years of perfecting my old painting method. 

The reference was a photo I'd taken out here in Northland New Zealand. I've cleaved quite close to it too. There is a lot of imagination in the colors and fracture though and it's straddling my old and new way of working for that reason.

Lately I've been reworking canvas' from imagination. I'm freely improving or enhancing many paintings I've done that had issues usually related to using photo reference. I've blogged about this process and it's unfolding still as self imposed restrictions are abandoned in favor of Art.

"Along the Path has a few of those issues but I'm letting it be as it's a nice painting as is and also represents the end and the peak of an old way of working.

Painting - Holding the Brush

I was working with a student today and we were doing a painting together. She has a good eye and is good with color so her painting resembled mine except in one important way.

Her brush strokes were all swishy and going the same direction. I said to her " hey look at your strokes, they're boring".

"Mooonlit Meadow" by M Francis McCarthy

She'd fallen into the robot mode of applying paint.

Often this is the biggest giveaway that a painting is the work of an armature artist but it's easy to avoid.

For one don't paint like a robot, you're not a human inkjet printer, your a human being and you should paint the way you feel. Not mechanically.

Also, stop and hold that brush another way. Change it up. Don't lick at the painting with it like a kitty cleaning itself. Use every part of the brush to create strokes.

Cheers,

A bit about "Moonlit Meadow" I'm trying to do a "blue" painting here. Not sure I succeeded at my goal but I find this painting pleasant anyway. It went through a major revision although I've no photo of the original state.

It was blue also but the sky in the original was doing nothing special. This was another case of something that looked good in my reference photo but was too subtle and blah when painted. 

And it was too subtle, as I'd resorted to rice grain like strokes in the sky in my effort to get the desired effect. 

Also bothersome; the main bunch of trees was topped by a point, something that I found challenging visually. I was never happy with it and walked by day after day gritting my teeth a bit in displeasure. 

Until one day it made it's way back onto my easel. 

I'm actually fairly happy with this piece now. I redid the sky with one that had a hidden moon element that created strong light in the clouds and more contrast overall. I reconfigured the trees a bit and softened their edges. I also amped up the pink and aqua tones on the ground as well as pumping up the highlights on the stream.

"Moonlit Meadow" can be viewed live at my studio in the Quarry Arts Center in Whangarei New Zealand

Assumptions

The art we create is the sum total of all of the assumptions that we have made our own.

This affects our work in positive and negative ways.

On the positive side, we need assumptions so that we are not forced to reinvent drawing or painting every time we sit down to work. We all have a collection of techniques, formulas and stuff we recall other artists saying that we bring to bear in our work all the time.

"Baz on Bass" by M Francis McCarthy

On the negative side, those assumptions often create blind spots that we are unaware of. 

If you think you know something it's both natural and easy to ignore any information that might conflict with your assumption. This is a big part of being an artist as well as a human being. 

Trying to create work that is more than formulaic rehashing of our old work and that of our influences is a real challenge. It requires questioning our core assumptions at the same time we are using them to support what we are doing.

Is there a way to see that which we cannot see?

One good way is to seek out a teacher that can point things out to us. If no teacher is available then I recommend studying a few books that go deeply into the type of art you want to do well. 

Even if you've been doing your art a long time and have some mastery. Relearning your area of expertise or trying a different approach can definitely reveal blind spots in your way of seeing that you were not aware of.

Also we must have an attitude of humility and a reverence for the mastery of great artists that have fought the good fight before us as well as respecting and learning  from fellow artists. 

Every artist to improve and move forward has to actively engage with their own assumptions. Constantly be reevaluating them, and tossing out those that no longer serve, embracing better assumptions based on real insight and hard won experience.

Do this and watch your art prosper.

Cheers,

A bit about "Baz on Bass". This is an illustration I did recently of my friend Barry. I used a Wacom tablet to do the inkwork and manipulated the reference photo extensively to provide a framework for the tones. 

This is fast and clean illustration and took me about 90 minutes to do. I like to keep my digital illustration chops sharp and I enjoy using the skills I developed after 13 years of illustrating in an art department everyday.

Illustration - Graphic Quality

For years in my art I pursued what I'll call a "Graphic Quality".

This quality is created by the placement of blacks and also very much by the type of hatching used to render the halftones.

I look at my work from a quarter century ago and I notice how carefully each stroke is placed. Back in the day I always worked in ink directly with a deep reverence for line.

I still have a respect for line and that graphic quality but after decades of doing art commercially and otherwise I'm not as precious with things now.

"Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec" by M Francis McCarthy

Is that a bad thing?

Sometimes I think so, but looking at my old work I can see the "try" in it. I see the effort to stretch my limitations.

These days I'm more comfortable with my artistic limitation. Being older and more aware that they exist helps. But also, I enjoy communicating with art directly, confident that my unique approach as an individual will more than suffice.

Are you enamored with the graphic quality of your art and that of other artists whom you admire?

If so, no worries but be aware that the best graphic style is the one that comes naturally as by product of you as a unique artist. As I've stated before and no doubt will again. Your time is best spent doing so much art that it becomes second nature. Then style, graphic or otherwise, will manifest brilliantly.

Cheers,

A bit about Mr Lautrec: I did this back in 1988. I had found a photo in a book that inspired this illustration. I inked this on vellum with a rapidograph. 

Vellum sorta sucks as an inking substrate. For starters the ink dries slow so is easy to smear. Also the ink just kinda lays there and you have to will it about. Still in the pre computer age it was one way of preserving you're original pencil drawing and I did use it once in awhile.

Deadlines

I fist became acquainted with deadlines working as a manager for Jab Art Enterprises.

Every job we shipped had a tight deadline that could not be missed. Work crews would most often be at the destination site and scheduled to hang the art on a specific date. 

Year in and out I hit those dates though many times I might be the last one there, loading a truck at 11:00 at night.

Later as the art director at Jack Nightingale Artworks I was responsible for scheduling our workload and getting the art out on time and also making sure it was good art. 

The business JNA was in is competitive and there was always lots of good art for the buyers to choose from.

Glacier Point Illustration by M Francis McCarthy Copyright Jack Nightingale Artworks

I never missed a deadline at JNA in the thirteen years I was there and we put out some great stuff on razor thin time margins. 

Deadlines can actually stimulate good work even though time is tight. I feel that this is because our subconscious mind becomes more fully engaged in an emergency situation and works double time to provide us with needed answers quickly. 

The ability to access that part of our minds when it would help most is one thing that separates the winners from the losers in commercial art. Personally, I found it annoying when the other artist there Rico would tell me that I could receive art from him fast or I could have it good. 

What utter bollocks and completely untrue. 

I saw the work that other artists were doing in our field and I knew damn well from chatting with some of them at trade shows like Magic in Las Vegas, that their schedules were just as full and the times just as tight as in our art department. 

I'll blog a bit about Magic some other time but for now I'll say that its the worlds largest apparel trade show and that I attended it every year from 2000 to 2009.

If your looking to produce more work and of an often higher quality, set yourself some deadlines and stick to them. 

You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish. 

Also if you, like Rico thinks it can be fast or good, hopefully I've disabused you of that misguided attitude and you can now start getting the art out a bit quicker and stop farting around.

Cheers,

A bit about "Glacier Point": This is illustration number 1001 I did of Yosemite's Half dome .. Just kidding, but I did illustrate half-dome at least 100 times in different ways, shapes and colors. 

I was always fond of this design. I think the illustration is real nice and I also like what Jack did with the type here. Jack was and probably still is great with type. We could be a great team as he was strong with design and I was with illustration. 

Unfortunately, sometimes he would lay some real stinky designs that I'd be forced to send out. He was the "Creative Director" after all, not to mention being one of the owners of the business. 

I did my best to polish those turds...

Painting - Composition

The importance of composition in landscape painting cannot be underestimated. It is the main thing that I feel improves in my work as I paint the landscape over and over.

As artists, we are responsible for moving the viewer through the picture. Failure to do this well will always result in mediocre pictures. 

The brain filters out huge chunks of the data coming in through our visual sense  A critical job of the artist is to do this filtering action for his viewer, presenting them with a predetermined journey through the painting.

"Riverside Reflections"  (8x12) by M Francis McCarthy

That "journey" is what is primarily created when we correctly use composition in our pictures.

Much of what we do as artists in this regard is intuitive. We just know when it feels right. Much also can be learned by studying the paintings of artists you admire. Far less is graspable when you read about the subject in books.

There are some great books on composition one I love is by Edgar Payne Composition of Landscape Painting. Another I've been trying to read is Composing Pictures by Donald Graham, I just scanned a review of this on Amazon an that review wasn't feeling it either. 

From my experience the best way to learn about good composition is to do a lot of paintings. As you do these paintings try to remember that a path must be mapped by you through each work you create. 

I'm going to mention using photography as a major area of potential concern at it pertains to composition. 

Speaking from experience,  though you can utilize composition skills when shooting your reference material, you are still just flattening raw nature.

A painting must be composed. mimicry and rote copying of nature results in paintings, but many times they will be hit or miss unless the reference photo has been re invented. To do this the limitations of the photo must be overcome by direct intervention from the imagination of the artist.

Cheers,

A bit about "Riverside Reflections". This is a recent painting thats made it through my recent repainting cull without being reworked. There is much I love about "Riverside Reflections" and somethings I'd rethink when revisiting this motif. 

Over all, the painting has the quiet feeling of twilight that I was after and exhibits a nice luminescent quality. It's currently hanging at the Yvonne Rust Gallery located at the Quarry Arts Center in Whangarei California. 

Reworking

Lately I've been reworking a lot of paintings. Not my favorite way of working but as an artist I must follow my muse.

It's tempting to let something go that you can see flaws in. 

Tempting yes, but ultimately it works against us as artists as it dilutes the over all quality of our oeuvre. 

Why that matters is different to each of us. It does matter to me. I want my best stuff here representing myself and my work after I've exited this mortal coil. I don't want a bunch of also ran paintings sorted through the mix

Gorilla by M Francis McCarthy

A while back I found that I could produce more good paintings by planning things out before painting. 

That did indeed work for quite a while. However, there are limits to what planning can achieve. Especially when working in the studio from photos and drawings.

I've written about some of the pitfalls inherent in working from photographs here. 

Even knowing what I do about all the pitfalls I've gotten zapped on about a dozen or so recent works.

As a consequence most need reworking to be brought up to the level I think they should be as landscape paintings. I've been reworking paintings for the last few weeks now and to a good effect in most cases.

Generally I've avoided reworking paintings in the past for a few reasons:

• Picking at paintings is a recipe for disaster and is too easy to do if you don't leave your work alone.
• Nothing is ever perfect. It's good realize this and let things be.
• Gotta keep moving. Better to produce many paintings, than spend too much time picking and scratching at a few.

I've recently hit a new plateau as a painter and because of that I'm "seeing" things I id not before. Since the paintings are recent and not in galleries or on display anywhere I'm free to try and bring them up to the level of my current vision. That's a good reason to repaint in my view.

I share this part of my painting journey in the hopes that it will help some of you that have also reached similar plateaus in your work.

Cheers,

A bit about "Gorilla" He is inked using pen and ink and also the computer. Many times I would print out photos and work directly on the image with pen or brush. Then scan in and finish the image. 

I was always short on time at Jack Nightingale Artworks and this was one of my many coping strategies. Gorilla came out pretty well but using photos like this can be a seductive potential trap even for experienced illustrators. You have been warned...

Intuition vs Intellect

Intellect battles intuition and always wins unless you keep on your toes.

It's too easy to drown out that quiet inner voice. Too easy to think we know what we're doing even if what we're doing is at cross purposes with our true intentions as artists.

I've written before about intuition here.

There is a reason that intuitive types are compelled by the arts. All art requires almost countless decisions to be made. The intellect alone finds this process tiring while our subconscious mind can do the same work automatically and effortlessly.

" Halfdome" by M Francis McCarthy

Both aspects of our mind are required to do art. The intuition must have a direction and intention to work it's magic upon. And it is magical as it can solve mountains of problems in a single bound and get us to the answers we need.

My Studio at The Quarry Arts Center in Whangarei, New Zealand Also pictured is Denny the Poodle, My cohort at arms.

"I'm convinced already! What can I do to tap into this intuition more?" you're saying.

Great question, you'll excuse me while I break out the bullets.

To access our intuitions more fully we can:

• Do that thing we just thought of doing. Don't put it off, act now.
• Take a stab with the brush loaded, at a spot on the painting that's bothering you. Then, deal with it...
• Don't lie to yourself when you see something wrong in your work. Intuition is always trying to point out those bad areas. BTW my personal tendency is to drown this voice out with lots of justifications.
• Pick up that book, find that bit of reference or ask that person to pose that you've been thinking about.
• Look for coincidence. 
• Welcome the random into your work.
• Paint once, think twice.
• Use the biggest brush possible and turn that thing. Make it work.

You get the idea.

Cheers,

About today's illustration "Half-dome" this was done back in 2003 or so and was used as the basis for quite a few tee shirt designs. It was inked with a dip type pen and then scanned in and finished using a Wacom Tablet and Stylus. This Sucker is copyrighted by Jack Nightingale Artworks and reproduced here for portfolio, editorial and illustrative purposes only.

Art is for the Brave

To create art one must be brave. You can draw, paint or invest your time in art installations but to create Art with a capitol "A" you must be brave.

You must step out side of your comfort zone.

You need to do that thing you think might work instead of the thing that you know will serve but could be bettered.

"Look, who?" by M Francis McCarthy

Don't be afraid. Do that hard thing and don't look back.

"What if it sucks" You say.

Ok, then it will and you'll feel bad. But if you keep at it you know you've at least tried to make Art instead of being happy with craft and kidding yourself that you don't know the difference.

Be brave. Make Art. 

Really, the worlds got enough of everything, except real art that touches others at the core of who and what they are as people.

Cheers,

A bit about "Look, Who?" This guy was created over a span of 10 years. He originated as a doodle on my desktop calender pad at Jab-Art Enterprises in about 1992. I scanned him into my computer at some point and colored him in 1994. Years later I changed the background and tweaked him some. I've always liked the pan in the face look on this guy.

Know When to Change

Knowing when to change course in big or little ways is a big key to having a successful career as an artist and life as a person..

I guess this blogs taken a philosophical bent as of late and there are several reasons, the foremost being that I tend to be very philosophical about life and art and the other reason being that my art is changing a bit these days.

It's not the first time I've made changes. My whole life I've always been consistent. Consistent that is until the time was ripe for change.

" Los Gatos Trail - Pond" by M Francis McCarthy

What's changing in my painting?

I'm getting more into inserting imagination into my work. I've been striving to overtake photography's influence on my work for years. 

Just recently I've started studying with Dennis Sheehan online. He is a very good painter and I've mentioned him on this blog as being a modern Tonalist that I admire.

While researching him for this blog I discovered that he offers a monthly subscription to his teaching videos and I have to say I'm getting a lot from his approach.

I started this blog to teach some of what I know but I'm also aware that I must always keep learning and adapting. 

BTW, I'll post some of my recent painting here soon. Truth is they look much like my older paintings but whats changed is that they're looking like my best work instead of the ify ones that were stuck in a stasis of mediocrity.

I've been evaluating and repainting parts of many recent works that I had given up on. I'm using my imagination and applying other reference in some cases to good effect. 

I'm pretty excited about whats going on in my studio these days and I owe a lot to Dennis for sharing some of his thirty years of painting knowledge.

If your facing similar challenges I recommend seeking out change in whatever form is appropriate for you, be it a blog like mine or a local teacher in your area or online.

Cheers,

A bit about today's painting; "Los Gatos Trail - Pond". This was done back in 2009. At the time I was teaching myself painting by photographing the ponds and creek behind where I worked in Campbell California and then painting them at my home studio. 

I did about fifty or so paintings of the pond area. Working small I covered a  lot of ground quickly as I learned to use my brush and paint.

I like the colors in this painting and it's got potential as a motif. I do think I too slavishly copied the photo reference. It's been a long process of learning how to get some good inspiration from a photo but also knowing what to leave out and add to make a great design. 

It is very seldom that a natural scene will be a perfect composition with out some modification large or small. I'm going to be talking about this more in future posts.

Learning to See

Developing our ability to "see" artistically is a lifetime effort that's never completely achieved.

Many laypersons and armature artists put way too much stock in technique and style. Nether of the two is even a fraction as important as seeing correctly and artistically. 

By artistically I mean seeing with a highly developed sense of aesthetic appreciation for what is being perceived. 

This sense in not just visual it taps into all the other senses as well and enfolds with feeling within us to create enhanced perception.

"Benjamin Disraeli" by M Francis McCarthy

So, how can we better develop our ability to see?

The best way is to draw a lot, paint a lot, look at other artists work and also be open within yourself to seeing better. 

This last bit is absolutely critical. If you think you see everything already, how can you see anything that you're not seeing?

You cannot see what you cannot see, it's impossible, but there is a way around this apparent contradiction.

The solution to this Catch 22 is that we must remain open to visual truth while working as hard as possible at our craft. If you do this, one day you will look at something you did only a few months before that you thought was masterful and defects will begin to present themselves to you.

I know, bummer eh? 

But, far better to know, far better to see, and having seen create anew in a better fashion until a new plateau of vision is accomplished and another and so on.

A bit about "Benjamin Disraeli"  I did this as a portfolio piece back in 1994, I think. Not sure as to the date but it was in the nineties. 

This illustration is inked with a Sable watercolor brush. Actually it was inked with a Winsor Newton Series Seven number two. I've been using that style of brush for thirty years. They are quite popular with many inkers because they hold their shape well and provide a nice snappy line quality.

I don't believe I've posted very much of my brush inking here so far. I use brush mostly for more comic book looking or graphic type work but it can be used in a more classical way as Benjamin shows. 

For sure you'll be seeing more brush type illustrations on this blog as time moves us forward.

Cheers,

Art Thoughts

What makes you unique as an artist? 

That is a great thing to know about yourself and your work. 

Sometimes when we see the great work of other artists we can begin to question our own ways of doing things. 

While self appraisal is always valuable, it's more important to maybe take a bit here and there from the artists you admire. Rather than slavishly emulate their styles.

Fisherman by M Francis McCarthy

If you read yesterdays post; I wrote about creating art from your heart. I said that being a unique artist is your birthright as you express your deepest inner vision.

Hey, here's some home work for you. Draw or paint something today completely out of you imagination. You might be surprised at whats in there.

A bit about today's drawing. Not sure if I posted this drawing already, but if I did it was way lower rez than this. I did this back in 88 or so. I'm still super happy with it as it's got great contrast, style and a neat creature.

Cheers,

Painting - The Robot

Who is the robot?

The robot is that part of us that works mechanically. He performs many of our actions and responses that are automatic in that they need no conscious attention on our part to direct them.

And it's great! Great for driving, cooking onions and a multitude of other daily actions. Whats the robot not great for?

Painting.

Definitely, better to paint consciously. That's not to say every stroke should be directed by the intellect or the will. It means being conscious of our heart and deepest inner feelings and then focusing that on our work.

Funny enough, the robot loves to paint, too bad he doesn't do a very good job of it. He loves to paint as you plan your next "aware" brush stroke. Truth be told, your painting could be halfway or even two thirds painted by the robot.

What can be done to combat this great ally but bad painter?

Here's some strategies that I like to apply:

• When you lay a stroke down on the canvas  do so with intention and an openness to possibilities inherent in the present moment. 
• Paint a brush stroke and then step back. Leave the poor thing alone for a bit.
• Don't use a "licking" brush motion on your canvas. That's a tell tale sign that the robots there, undoing most of your conscious painting with those licking strokes as your parsing your next move.
• Change up the way you hold your brush. This is the best painting advise I've given on this blog. Changing up your brush handling resets your brain and keeps you present and the robot at bay.

There's plenty more great strategies, but that's a good start. Maybe you can dream up a few of your own now that the issues out in the open.

In closing since the robots been filling up many of your paintings with unnecessary  unmindful brushstrokes. Just getting this monkey off your back alone will improve your work immensely.

Cheers,

Landscape Painting - Beauty You Can't Fake It...

After yesterdays scary bear, I'm thinking we'll get into beauty today.

In 1990 when I did that bear, I was 25 years old and still occasionally buying comic books. As a young artist I was far more interested in clever, coolness than beauty. 

As the years have passed, more and more I've been attracted to the beautiful in art.

As today's title states. You cannot fake beauty. 

Something can be clever, cool, striking even but to be beautiful. It must be well crafted and work on sound artistic principles.

"By the Shore" (6x9) by M Francis McCarthy

It may be true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but it is also true that this truism is often invoked to defend second rate art or cleverness disguised as art.

After years of being clever eventually, as an artist I had to decide was sort of art that I wanted to leave in this world. 

I want to make pictures that bring folks some insight, rest and comfort. That's not all that's going on but it is definitely a big apart of what I'm after.This goal is strongly supported by trying to achieve beauty in my work.

A bit about today's painting. It was done after a trip my wife made to visit me in California before we were married. 

The summer was scorching hot at that time in California except on the coast where were touring. There, it was blissfully foggy,nice and cool. That's reflected in the painting too I hope.

This painting exhibits a strong Tonalist pallet and was an early attempt at using a Tonalist vocabulary in my painting. 

The 6x9 size is due to my fixation on the golden mean as a painting proportion. I stayed with that proportion well into my New Zealand painting career. We'll get more into proportions later. They are fascinating with the golden mean being especially so.

If you're a student, I recommend looking at and dissecting some work you consider beautiful. Create some yourself. It actually feels great to try.

Cheers,

Landscape Painting - How Much Detail?

As a young artist I always looked up to and admired other artists that put a lot of detail in their work. A kid into comics, I and my mates loved Neil Adams style because of the realistic detail in his art.

It wasn't until I grew older that I became more aware of the beauty gained by simplifying one's work so that  it's best attributes were put forward.

Peaceful Sojourn by M Francis McCarthy

As far as super detailed landscape painting goes the Hudson River guys were probably the most detailed school though I suppose most any type of painting can be highly detailed.  Here's a piece by Frederic Edwin Church:

Frederic Edwin Church  - a Country Home

This is fairly high rez so give it a click to see how Fred handled finish and detail. Granted this actual painting is huge but the level of finish detail is super high and in Fred's case it works quite well. I've seen Fred's work in person and it's awesome.

For me as an artist and landscape painter detail can be a straight jacket that locks up images. Like I said when I was younger I dug detail and drew plenty of detailed images. Now though I believe most every thing that's good in a picture, that's important, has nothing to do with detail.

If you work with photo reference as I often do, The fact that you can see all that detail in your reference can make it difficult not to render it all right into your painting. What you'l end up with is a box of detail more often than a cohesive painting, if you're not careful.

View of my old living room with studio beyond

I'm not a scientist but I've read a bit about how we as humans "see". We actually see only a small bit of anything in our field of vision in sharp focus. The reason we think we see all detail in a given scene at once is that our brains sew together a panoramic image for us to perceive. 

If you observe your own viewing process right now, you might notice that only an area about eight inches wide at 1 foot or so is in focus. To see more than that clearly, you must move your eye's. This is called scanning.

I try with my work to avoid scanning as much as possible. My feeling is that the painter should do the scanning for the perceiver of his paintings and present an image that just flows into the brain of the viewer. People look at the world and photos much the same way. They scan them. Good landscape paintings avoid this and lead the eye in a pleasant manner. 

There are so many ways to do this that I will expand upon later but for the purposes of this post I'll point out one of the best ways. That is this; eliminate distracting detail from your work and present only pertinent detail that pays off the viewers attention. Cheers