July 21, 2007
Working from Memory
As an artist I’m drawn to a variety of subject matter, from mountain ranges to my wife cooking in the kitchen. There is conventional beauty as in a sunset or arrangement of flowers and beauty found in the arrangement of shapes, values and subtle changes of color no matter what the subject. The best subjects are the ones I stumble upon when I don’t have my paint box, drawing pad or camera ( yes, I do use photography). Being unprepared is the best time to exercise your memory and imagination. The camera is too static, it’s hard to break away from the framed image and use your imagination to improve on technique or composition.
All the things I do when I’m not painting offer the best chances for exerciseing my imagination. Sitting in church and watching the light from the window fall on the side of someones face. The arrangement of vegtables at the market, or traveling through New Mexico on my way to Oklahoma City, which I do several times a year, and seeing all kinds of compositions along the Rio Grande. During these times I play the scene over and over in my head trying to remember large shapes and tempature contrasts. Then when I finaly pull into my cheap motel in Tucumcari I can put the scene down in pencil or on a 6×8 panel in oil or pastel, again just the major shapes that made up the quick glance out of the window.
I was at the dog park recently close to sundown, the park sits on top of a hill with a great view of the Tucson mountains. Since July is in monsoon season the clouds were beautiful and instead of fooling around with the camera, adjusting aputures and shutter speeds I could just watch the last 15 minutes of the sunset, making mental notes of simple shapes and color notes, thinking in terms of primary and secondary colors. Then drag my dog home and do a quick 6×8 color scketch and do 3 or 4 more to see how I can improve on technique or texture.
July 24th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Great Post! You make me feel guilty for not having much of an imagination. I wish I was in Tucson looking at those clouds.
July 24th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Thanks for the post, it was great to see a little of what goes on in your head when you’re thinking about a painting! There are so many times I focus on committing Corinne to memory because the camera will never completely capture the things she does or her sweet and funny expressions.
July 28th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Your comments made me realize that I get so caught up in trying to capture the moment with the camera that I actually forget to really look at what caught my eye in the first place. Thanks for reminding me to slow down and see!
July 28th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
HI! This is great. I agree with Jena in that we can see what you’re thinking and what you look at to capture the scene. this is great and look forward to these discussions. I don’t have things handy and try to remember what I’ve seen, usually not capturing it. We recently went to the Dominican Republic and the scenes were awesome, local markets and farmers traveling on donkey with their baskets of items. I hope to paint them, if the photos come out…..
July 28th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Great to hear your thoughts, Phil! I’m also in favor of sketching (even in church) and making color notes. It’s very true that the photograph can become more of a crutch than a tool! BTW, I had just dug out the issue of SW Art with the article on you and your work, and was reviewing it the other day. Learned a lot in your workshop — helpful doing the daily small paintings.
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Ruth Feldman has been raving about you as teacher and painter. I do paint and hac]ve had some training. Can you tell me about your classes–when held, how long, and how much?
Thank you, Mary Rose