Imagination l Vision l Knowledge
Article by Lise King - June, 2018
Knowledge is key alongside eye to hand coordination, one must embody distinctive characteristics, the desire of the heart, mind and soul. The essence of the soul, capturing the core of the subject is the essential element, above every other principle of design. Without possessing these embodiments in the creation of an artwork, the person is just going through mindless motions.
The artwork cannot just look beautiful; it must attain meaning an essence of the core. Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Van Gogh or Manet did not just manifest a beautiful painting, the allure spoke of a symphony of light, the glory of God’s creations and the life force that resides in all life form. The artists understood the technical aspect to create a fresh perspective coming from within their beings. Paris alluring qualities would not have been implied, if the artists would have painted the actual dilapidated scene. Instead they chose to paint what they saw from within their heart, mind and soul, what it could be or represent. They took something bleak and created an alluring fantasy, romanticizing its beauty. They seen what it could be, just like a contractor looking at the depleted house on the market and see its potentials. Artists need to develop the eye of an artists. Artist look at its environment with new or fresh insights.
Traditionally art is an international language with no barriers with two purposes; to beautify a space, coupled with the pursuit of profound meaning. In the end, meaning is what resides in the viewer’s mind, not the subject in itself that attracted the audience; it’s in the quintessence that connects with the viewers’ emotional psyche. Therefore, freshness, not originality that artists aspire to capture, resonating the spiritual soul-searching quest, commencing from within the creative experience that requires a deep inward examination, prompting the expression of emotional depth and range stirring the spiritual journey and the quest for meaning, exposing the artist’s most profound essential character. In a nutshell, artist paint how they feel, how they perceive the world, their emotions govern their palette, brush stroke and subject at that particular time.
Once mastering the technical skill and language of art without these ingredients: desire (heart), mind (mind’s eye) and spirit or the inner soul (creativity, vision and inspiration); your emotional disconnection or lack of feelings will show through your artwork as lifeless and mechanical. A mechanical painting is just that, a device serving a practical function or ornamental purpose.
A skilled artist does not merely re-create what he or she sees in front of them. These skills come with many years of practice and experimentation as well as the development of the technical skills needed to know how to successfully create a representational painting with a unique distinctive artistic voice that comes from within an astute artist. Regardless of the situation, subject matter or the material one is using. Thus the challenge is within the realm of a fresh introspective formulation about the perpetual issues, feelings that awakens the spiritual journey in which generates a transformative value.
The common characteristics of a good painting:
The focal point can be any shape, size, restrained, delicate, vibrant, bold, a speckle of light, a dash of colour, an expression or emphatic gesture. Its main purpose is to engage the viewer. It can also act as a culmination of the momentum as the surrounding stage lead you to the apex of the story.
Layers of colour can make a painting tranquil or vibrant, dramatic or stark and depth which the artist creates through the choice of colours and how he or she build the passages of colour over one another in glazes or side by side creating a visual effect. Warm and cool colours in a sky create a sense of atmosphere and space, better than using one colour for tonal values, no matter how perfectly the colour match the sky above. it needs nature’s palette.
Correspondingly imperative are the variations and directions of the brush strokes. Look at Jan van Eyck, versus Vincent van Gogh that perfectly reverberating what the artist painted, producing a statement, giving a well-intentioned edge. Look at the direction of the brush strokes in different direction and various angles. As one develops their own style, keep in mind these characteristics as one develops their own masterpieces. Whether it is in the details capturing the essence and likeness of a person, animal, object or evolving the delicate subtleties of watercolour painting technique. In portraits, most of the time the eyes are the window to the soul. One nails the eyes by capturing the essence of the soul, thus achieve the heart of the painting.
Artists passionate necessities are driven to invent and express new forms of communications, rendering and shaping new ideas that drives artists outside of the conventional boundaries, which is not originality in itself, but the desire to share portraitures of how they see their world by shaping utterance through gesture, symbols or signs that enables them to carry meaning, thus exposing their innermost visionary self for the world to see. The price the artists pay for this essential need of communication is often isolation in return for a heartfelt storytelling, poem or song. It could be through a symphony of lights, the muse or prose that compelled the artist to compose.
In order to master the art of portraiture, landscape or style life, experiment with what brings joy from within. The artistic innovative inspiration with instructions enables artists to come away with a better sense of understanding the language of art.
- Basic techniques are guiding principle, shape, values, textures, mediums, colour and form.
- Learning the various techniques of a range of mediums.
- Basic fundamental guidelines to think of in a composition.
- Acquire an awareness of your artistic signature version by knowing your strength and defining your artistic style
Learning is an essential principal for the artistic growth, separating the boys from the men or girls from the woman. That is not to say that hobbyist is not an essential component of the arts. We all have that artistic desire from within, whether we do crafts or write a book or poem, gardening, home decor, sew, cook or plan an event, etc. They all employ a form of creativity. Some more than others have the desire to pursuit pass the basic primal instinct and want to experience all that they can even to the point of mastering a medium, a style or genre... It all begins from the desire from within. Then one is open to learn.
Quote from Anish Kappor: "What is the point of being an artist unless you aspire to be the apsolute highest."
Art Instructor Lise King
