Sunset Trees 5x5
Hello and welcome to Tonalist paintings by M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'Sunset Trees' 5x5.
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushstrokes. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Sorry for the delay in blogging. I'm traveling and just now getting over the jet lag.
Today I'd like to ramble a little bit about the art market. While not an expert on the subject I have had some good exposure to it in the six years I have had an open studio in a public accessible art center. I would say the best part of having a publicly accessible art studio is that it has enabled me to grow a thick skin regarding interacting with people about my art. I get all sorts of comments about my art, both positive and negative and while most people coming in are not art buyers, I think it is always great to have people looking at your work.
As many of you know, I was a commercial illustrator for 13 years and made my living by creating art every day and getting paid for it. This was both a positive and negative experience but ultimately I enjoyed it. The main reason that I decided to give up on being a commercial illustrator was that I didn't feel that I was using my talent to put the art into the world that I wanted to represent me and my life as an artist.
For much of my life, I'd been content to concentrate on developing my drawing skills and later my illustration abilities. The actual content of my drawings and illustrations was not as important to me as developing my ability to express myself well. After many years of working full-time as an illustrator, I definitely developed the ability to not only finish work but, create work at a high level that was commercially viable in the marketplace. As an education, this experience was irreplaceable.
I did not attend an art school, I am primarily self-taught especially when it comes to drawing. When I decided to become a landscape painter I went to the bookstore and got myself some books and later on, some DVDs. Many of these artists gave me some great advice and teaching. For that reason, I do not consider myself to be a 100% self-taught as a painter.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with trading your art for money but I have seen many an artist go down dark paths that I'm sure they never envisioned when they began their artistic journeys. Just about everything in our modern world has a dollar attached to it, this is not always a good thing. As a matter fact, it can be very destructive if the desire and wish to accumulate money drives you above and beyond other goals that you could be pursuing. When I chose a new avocation as a fine artist and landscape painter, I was pretty sure that I would be taking a huge pay cut and I have.
Ultimately it has been worth it though because I feel fulfilled every day when I come home from the studio because I have spent my time putting something beautiful and uplifting into the world. It's also rewarding when people come into my studio and admire my work. Indeed one of the greatest ways that anyone can show their appreciation is by parting with some of their hard-earned cash to purchase one of my paintings.
The majority of my studio sales are made to tourists. It is a well-known fact that tourists are one of the main sectors of the art buying public, people often wish to have a memento of their holiday and also they have already, mentally come to terms with the fact that they will be parting with money while on vacation.
Galleries are another place that I sell work and I have some great relationships with several. I was reading an article today about online sales versus galleries and the potential death of the gallery. I myself do not believe that galleries will ever completely go away because in a world full of one image after another presented to us both on our computers and televisions not to mention other media, an actual original painting has a spirit and gravity to it that needs to be perceived in person.
This is my belief, but that does not mean that there will not be growth in the online gallery market or that selling work online is a bad idea. I just think that it's best to really be in the same space as the painting before plunking down hundreds or thousands of dollars on a piece of original art.
These are just some of my thoughts on this topic. I would like to conclude here by saying if you are a person that supports the work of artists you admire financially, you are a hero in my opinion and thank you.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Sunset Trees' 5x5; this is a study for a slightly larger painting we will be discussing next week. As I stated in the video I had painted this scene once before around 2010/2011 and sold that painting. While that painting came out quite successfully I had a lot of irritation while painting the road and it was definitely a big step on my path to the obviation of detail in my work. As I decided then and there, a different approach was in order going forward.
I am happy with this study and the larger 8x8 version we will be discussing next week. The biggest difference between the more recent paintings and the versions I did in 2011 was the ease of expression in doing the scene now has been brought on by the additional years of painting experience.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Sunset Trees by M Francis McCarthy, 5x5 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushstrokes. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Sorry for the delay in blogging. I'm traveling and just now getting over the jet lag.
Today I'd like to ramble a little bit about the art market. While not an expert on the subject I have had some good exposure to it in the six years I have had an open studio in a public accessible art center. I would say the best part of having a publicly accessible art studio is that it has enabled me to grow a thick skin regarding interacting with people about my art. I get all sorts of comments about my art, both positive and negative and while most people coming in are not art buyers, I think it is always great to have people looking at your work.
As many of you know, I was a commercial illustrator for 13 years and made my living by creating art every day and getting paid for it. This was both a positive and negative experience but ultimately I enjoyed it. The main reason that I decided to give up on being a commercial illustrator was that I didn't feel that I was using my talent to put the art into the world that I wanted to represent me and my life as an artist.
For much of my life, I'd been content to concentrate on developing my drawing skills and later my illustration abilities. The actual content of my drawings and illustrations was not as important to me as developing my ability to express myself well. After many years of working full-time as an illustrator, I definitely developed the ability to not only finish work but, create work at a high level that was commercially viable in the marketplace. As an education, this experience was irreplaceable.
I did not attend an art school, I am primarily self-taught especially when it comes to drawing. When I decided to become a landscape painter I went to the bookstore and got myself some books and later on, some DVDs. Many of these artists gave me some great advice and teaching. For that reason, I do not consider myself to be a 100% self-taught as a painter.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with trading your art for money but I have seen many an artist go down dark paths that I'm sure they never envisioned when they began their artistic journeys. Just about everything in our modern world has a dollar attached to it, this is not always a good thing. As a matter fact, it can be very destructive if the desire and wish to accumulate money drives you above and beyond other goals that you could be pursuing. When I chose a new avocation as a fine artist and landscape painter, I was pretty sure that I would be taking a huge pay cut and I have.
Ultimately it has been worth it though because I feel fulfilled every day when I come home from the studio because I have spent my time putting something beautiful and uplifting into the world. It's also rewarding when people come into my studio and admire my work. Indeed one of the greatest ways that anyone can show their appreciation is by parting with some of their hard-earned cash to purchase one of my paintings.
The majority of my studio sales are made to tourists. It is a well-known fact that tourists are one of the main sectors of the art buying public, people often wish to have a memento of their holiday and also they have already, mentally come to terms with the fact that they will be parting with money while on vacation.
Galleries are another place that I sell work and I have some great relationships with several. I was reading an article today about online sales versus galleries and the potential death of the gallery. I myself do not believe that galleries will ever completely go away because in a world full of one image after another presented to us both on our computers and televisions not to mention other media, an actual original painting has a spirit and gravity to it that needs to be perceived in person.
This is my belief, but that does not mean that there will not be growth in the online gallery market or that selling work online is a bad idea. I just think that it's best to really be in the same space as the painting before plunking down hundreds or thousands of dollars on a piece of original art.
These are just some of my thoughts on this topic. I would like to conclude here by saying if you are a person that supports the work of artists you admire financially, you are a hero in my opinion and thank you.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Sunset Trees' 5x5; this is a study for a slightly larger painting we will be discussing next week. As I stated in the video I had painted this scene once before around 2010/2011 and sold that painting. While that painting came out quite successfully I had a lot of irritation while painting the road and it was definitely a big step on my path to the obviation of detail in my work. As I decided then and there, a different approach was in order going forward.
I am happy with this study and the larger 8x8 version we will be discussing next week. The biggest difference between the more recent paintings and the versions I did in 2011 was the ease of expression in doing the scene now has been brought on by the additional years of painting experience.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Sunset Trees by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| Sunset Trees by M Francis McCarthy (Detail2) |