#9 George Smillie 'Windy Day' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after George Henry Smillie - Windy Day.
Our video features the progression of this study from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Today I'd like to talk a little bit about the concept of consistency. One of the primary differences between a professional versus an amateur artist, is that the work of the professional artist is invariably more consistent in quality and style.
Some artists consider consistency to be like a plague and something that only artists in the past worried about, that was now best avoided by the "modern artist". This may be because many of your average modern artists have no real artistic skill set, and thus must rely on a combination of copying the work of others, mixed with other assorted random bullshit.
In the past, artists usually received training from the local Master painter in their village or city. If you showed any talent artistically you would often go off to live with the Master and while performing other chores in his employ, the apprentice would be taught the fundamentals of creating art. A great trade-off that has been replaced with either self-education or submersion in waste of time art schools.
The good news these days regarding art schools is that there has been a big resurgence in recent years towards teaching foundational artistic skills to young artists. There are many schools and academies now dedicated to this pursuit. The reason that having good art skills relates to consistency is that without the ability to draw/paint well, you will never be able to create consistent effects in your work.
I'm often surprised at the continued belief of amateur artists in their idea of what inspiration is. It's like they believe that great artists are struck with a lightning bolt from nowhere and only then are able to create something great. This is in clear opposition to the application of a vigorous work ethic applied to their working practice, combined with ongoing efforts at education and illumination.
While my work tends to be consistently professional and also recognizably my own work, I do have peaks and troughs. Those peaks and troughs are not as extreme as they would be were I not well-trained and also hard-working. I find consistency in an artists body of work to be a sign of both hard work and continuing education.
I've written in the past about concepts like style and the influence of other artists. It is common for the amateur artist to be moved about quite easily with each new influence and inspiration they come across. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this if you are starting out, it's good to do a lot of different things and you should not be concerning yourself overly with ideas like style or what your particular style is. For the professional artist though consistency in approach will give their work more gravitas and market saleability.
I'd like to mention that it has been called to my attention by a reader of this blog, that a very important book is being reprinted very soon: A History of American Tonalism: Crucible of American Modernism 1880 to 1920 by David A Cleveland.
I own two copies of this book's first edition and have just now ordered a copy of the new edition. The book is currently being sold on Amazon for the preorder price of $79. This is a steal given how great this book is. If you have any interest at all in Tonalism, you owe it to yourself to order this book immediately.
The previous edition of this book went out of print many years ago and has been selling for hundreds of dollars on the Internet since that time. Recently it has leveled out at a price of around $200. If I had to, I would pay that or even more. David A Cleveland has written the definitive history of American Tonalism. Not only is the book an easy and inspirational read but the color reproductions in it are excellent, as well there being plenty of them.
As an aside, I had purchased his previous work about Charles Warren Eaton for some big money, unfortunately this is not as great as his book on American Tonalism, though I still value owning it. It is full of black-and-white reproductions and that is one of my pet peeves with older art books. I guess it was unavoidable in the days when color reproduction was more expensive.
I wouldn't be surprised if this new reprint goes out of print quickly as there seems to be a great demand for this book. Hopefully they will continue to keep it in print now to satisfy that demand. This book belongs on the shelf of any art lover.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after George Henry Smillie - 'Windy Day'; George was not technically considered to be a Tonalist but he worked during the time of the Tonalist era and this particular painting resonates with me as a Tonalist work.
It's good to keep in mind that artists at that time were not as into definitions and distinctions about, what to them, was modern art as we are now a hundred years later.
I enjoyed doing this study and it was one of the paintings that I had been most looking forward to making a study of back when I was collecting inspiration for the 25 days of tonalism project.
Info about George here
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - 'Windy Day' by George Smillie, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Our video features the progression of this study from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Today I'd like to talk a little bit about the concept of consistency. One of the primary differences between a professional versus an amateur artist, is that the work of the professional artist is invariably more consistent in quality and style.
Some artists consider consistency to be like a plague and something that only artists in the past worried about, that was now best avoided by the "modern artist". This may be because many of your average modern artists have no real artistic skill set, and thus must rely on a combination of copying the work of others, mixed with other assorted random bullshit.
In the past, artists usually received training from the local Master painter in their village or city. If you showed any talent artistically you would often go off to live with the Master and while performing other chores in his employ, the apprentice would be taught the fundamentals of creating art. A great trade-off that has been replaced with either self-education or submersion in waste of time art schools.
The good news these days regarding art schools is that there has been a big resurgence in recent years towards teaching foundational artistic skills to young artists. There are many schools and academies now dedicated to this pursuit. The reason that having good art skills relates to consistency is that without the ability to draw/paint well, you will never be able to create consistent effects in your work.
I'm often surprised at the continued belief of amateur artists in their idea of what inspiration is. It's like they believe that great artists are struck with a lightning bolt from nowhere and only then are able to create something great. This is in clear opposition to the application of a vigorous work ethic applied to their working practice, combined with ongoing efforts at education and illumination.
While my work tends to be consistently professional and also recognizably my own work, I do have peaks and troughs. Those peaks and troughs are not as extreme as they would be were I not well-trained and also hard-working. I find consistency in an artists body of work to be a sign of both hard work and continuing education.
I've written in the past about concepts like style and the influence of other artists. It is common for the amateur artist to be moved about quite easily with each new influence and inspiration they come across. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this if you are starting out, it's good to do a lot of different things and you should not be concerning yourself overly with ideas like style or what your particular style is. For the professional artist though consistency in approach will give their work more gravitas and market saleability.
I'd like to mention that it has been called to my attention by a reader of this blog, that a very important book is being reprinted very soon: A History of American Tonalism: Crucible of American Modernism 1880 to 1920 by David A Cleveland.
I own two copies of this book's first edition and have just now ordered a copy of the new edition. The book is currently being sold on Amazon for the preorder price of $79. This is a steal given how great this book is. If you have any interest at all in Tonalism, you owe it to yourself to order this book immediately.
The previous edition of this book went out of print many years ago and has been selling for hundreds of dollars on the Internet since that time. Recently it has leveled out at a price of around $200. If I had to, I would pay that or even more. David A Cleveland has written the definitive history of American Tonalism. Not only is the book an easy and inspirational read but the color reproductions in it are excellent, as well there being plenty of them.
As an aside, I had purchased his previous work about Charles Warren Eaton for some big money, unfortunately this is not as great as his book on American Tonalism, though I still value owning it. It is full of black-and-white reproductions and that is one of my pet peeves with older art books. I guess it was unavoidable in the days when color reproduction was more expensive.
I wouldn't be surprised if this new reprint goes out of print quickly as there seems to be a great demand for this book. Hopefully they will continue to keep it in print now to satisfy that demand. This book belongs on the shelf of any art lover.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after George Henry Smillie - 'Windy Day'; George was not technically considered to be a Tonalist but he worked during the time of the Tonalist era and this particular painting resonates with me as a Tonalist work.
It's good to keep in mind that artists at that time were not as into definitions and distinctions about, what to them, was modern art as we are now a hundred years later.
I enjoyed doing this study and it was one of the paintings that I had been most looking forward to making a study of back when I was collecting inspiration for the 25 days of tonalism project.
Info about George here
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Original painting, 'Windy Day' by George Smiley |
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| Study after 'Windy Day' by George Smiley (Detail) |
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| Study after 'Windy Day' by George Smiley (Detail 2) |