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Music and Its Inspiration in the Studio

11/25/2014

I'm a big music fan. I couldn't hold a note if you glued it to my hand, but I certainly try when working in the studio. In general I'm most inspired by Indie bands such as The Mars Volta, Cloud Cult, or Sleater-Kinney, among others. I also have a lot of New Wave and Mod-Rock on my playlist. Even Flamenco gets me in the mood more than once per week. For some strange reason, however, I've lately been heavily inspired by outlaw country - mostly songs like Waylon Jennings's Ain't No God in Mexico or Willie Nelson's Pancho and Lefty. I'm not sure why, but there's something about the aggressive rhythm in these songs and others by Dolly Parton (Jolene), Kris Kristoferson (Casey's Last Ride, From the Bottle to the Bottom), or Townes Van Zant (Dead Flowers, Black Widow Blues). I can work in most conditions, but music definitely helps keep a mood. This in turn helps to keep my emotions on the canvas consistent, too.

I came across this NPR story about Raeanne Rubenstein's exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles. She's done a lot of photography over the years, but this exhibit focuses on country stars. The two images in the article are of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. Can't go wrong with that.

Raeanne Rubenstein, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Outlaw Country, Photography, Art, Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles

Raeanne Rubenstein's Waylon Jennings

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Behind the Painting: Calle en Ardales

11/20/2014

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calle, ardales, spain, espanha, espana, andalucia, watercolor, board, art, painting

Calle en Ardales - Watercolor on Canvas Board - 28 x 33.5 cm (2014)

I've been climbing for about 15 years now. That's so hard to believe when I look back on those first few years. The man who introduced me to climbing passed away during a climbing accident not too many year after he got me hooked. On the day I found out, I went climbing. I still can't tell you why. I guess I just felt it was the right thing to do.

For many years I wanted to go climbing in El Chorro, in the Malaga region of Andalucia. My then girlfriend was studying in Sevilla so I loaded up the empty bank account with not much more than enough to visit and went. Along the way an old climbing friend from Germany flew south for a visit. We rented a casa in Ardales, one of the next towns over, and proceeded to climb for a few days together. I was woefully out of shape, mostly as a result of focusing so much of my time on art and keeping my head above water, but it was a fantastic few days. We stayed just up to the right of where this painting was inspired from.

I prefer to paint the small things, or the things that most people don't think about. This street was just a moment in time, which is just like any other moment if you stop and think about it. It was painted with watercolor on canvas board in 2014.

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My Favorite Artists: The Restoration of Matisse's Swimming Pool

11/17/2014

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Henri, Matisse, MoMA, Swimming Pool, Restoration, Art

Henri Matisse - The Swimming Pool (1952) - MoMA

Henri Matisse has long been one of my favorite artists. In fact, in spite of the fact that he probably isn't my favorite artist to study or even look at, he has probably influenced me more than any other artist. I never chose to use bold colors, but it's certainly a strength of mine, and Matisse's paintings, particularly A Glimpse of Notre-Dame in the Late Afternoon, absolutely helped me to understand that my use of colors works in the public eye.

One thing that I've been concerned with is using archival materials. I've done a fair amount of my own research on the matter and try to work with materials that will last. However, I'm always impressed with how conservationists are able to maintain, and sometimes improve, works of art that were not created using the most archival materials. I stumbled upon MoMA's restoration of Matisse's Swimming Pool and was completely impressed by the fact that it took the conservationist 2000 hours to remove the burlap fibers behind the paper cutouts that Matisse had originally hung on his studio's walls. Often times they removed the threads one at a time! That's about one year's work just to remove the burlap. Impressive stuff. Check out the article and the video here, or just check out the video below.

A Glimpse of Notre-Dame in the Late Afternoon (1902) Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Matisse, Henri, Fauvism, Fauve, Bold Colors

Colonia del Sacramento (2013) - Greg Mason Burns

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Could Cadmium be banned in Europe?

11/11/2014

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Being an artist, it's a little disheartening to be held hostage to making color in today's world. Actually, that's too dramatic. I could always make my own colors, and to be honest I'd love to learn how to do so. But there are some colors that are really useful and I can't see myself making them on my own any time soon. The cadmium colors (red and yellow in my studio) are very useful. In fact, I typically work with just these colors: cadmium red, cadmium yellow, ultramarine, cobalt, cerulean, and titanium white. I mix in some other tones from time to time, but I start with those and I use them a lot. In fact, there is no red that I've discovered that is even close to Cadmium Red. It's the same for yellow, though yellows are much easier to mix than reds, of course.

However, there are problems with cadmium. In fact, it's considered one of the more dangerous common elements. It is mostly used in batteries (by far, according to the Cadmium wiki page) and in television sets as well as the aircraft industry. However, it is the art industry that is facing greater regulations in the European Union. According to The Art Newspaper, officials in Sweden want to ban cadmium across the EU because it apparently is affecting the food supply. They say that artists are washing the cadmium off their brushes and down the drain, which eventually makes it out to more natural resources. The article goes on to say that the paint industry is suggesting it's batteries that are making the difference.

A decision is expected in December, and this artist hopes that clear heads prevail and cadmium continues to brighten canvases for years to come.

Cadmium, Red, Yellow, The Art Newspaper, paint, European Union

Flota de Coquimbo, Oil on Canvas (2012). Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow worked well here.

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Technique Instruction: Basic Forms

11/5/2014

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Technique, Monotone, monochrome, blue, bottle, box, basic, form, technique, instruction

Study of Boxes and Bottles in Blue

As a self-taught artist, I needed to learn some basics before I could move on to more complicated projects. Of course I'm still developing, and still need to practice just as any other artist needs to. But when I came across this site by Bill Martin I had forgotten how fun it is to go back and practice those things that one first learns. I like to keep things simple in my own art, often focusing on bold colors and basic forms. Going back to the basics always leads me down new avenues. Discovering this site brought to light many new ideas, too. I hope you enjoy it, or at the very least it takes you to something more complex.

Click the image below to go to Bill Martin's site:

Bill Martin, Basic Forms, Technique, Instruction, art, drawing, painting

Bill Martin's Basic Forms

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Music and Its Inspiration in the Studio

Behind the Painting: Calle en Ardales

My Favorite Artists: The Restoration of Matisse's Swimming Pool

Could Cadmium be banned in Europe?

Technique Instruction: Basic Forms

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