For the Birds

 

 

Here it is so far. My Heron.

 

So far I am simply trying to keep the shape of the bird, the location of the major feathers and keep from destroying the drawing. At this point, I am thinking, "why did I start this?"

 

I do this all the time.

 

Once I get into a project, I am sure it is beyond me and feel like a total failure.

 

I can't do this.

 

I am no good, I will never get these detail right, who wants to draw all these features any ways, and why, if I have to do it, I did not simply paint it, It would be easier!

 

Leave this to real artists.

 

I always feel this way,

 

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

 

 

Why Is Large Art Considered Better And More Professional?

The case for smaller art.

 

One of the things one critic mentioned when judging a show or exhibit to be “amateurish” is the size of the artwork. “Artists work large” was the idea. When he saw a show of relatively smaller sizes, and for this I am not talking about small or miniature art, I am talking about 8 x 10, 11 x 14, even 16 x 20. It seems that anything less than 18 x 24 is amateurish.  I know that many college level classes specify larger art but I am still mystified why this is thought to be better. Why is larger better? Why is only large "Serious Art?"

Miniature

 

I have done one really large canvas in my life, 36 x 48. It took a lot of time and skill. But I can really say it took more skill, or vision or creativity than my smaller works. Certainly not as much as my miniatures.

 

And now I have this really large landscape on my hands. I have shown it at several show, and it is greatly admired. But who wants something that big? I have it on a side wall in my sun room, the only wall big enough for it. And I look at it and say. You know, I get it. It’s a great painting, but I also know why, while I have sold many other paintings and drawing, people walk past it. Its huge.

 

Ok for an attention getter, but not something people want.

 

So while I do like the painting. It is an accomplishment, I am painting smaller, more initiate works of art.  I do have to ask, "Why is larger more serious?"

Large Painting

Working Hard on Portraits

My students at the Renaissance Art Gallery have been working very hard on their portraits and other projects.

All are showing such promise.

This week I was able to draw the correlation between standard anatomy and cartoon characters. For us to relate to these invented people, they have to strike a cord with us, and with thoughtful creation, even a robot can have a more human or humane connection.

Worked also on how we change as we age, not so much inside but outside.

A lot for them to absorb.   I often think when their parents send them to art class they have no idea how much thinking, planning and soul searching is involved in art.

Because it is a visual art, so many simply dismiss it as thoughtless. As we all know, that is simply not true. Which is why students that are exposed to the arts early do better in math and science.

We need more art. We also need more appreciation that art is necessary.

Art happens in the head, only then can it come out the hands.

Working Through the Rough Spots

Bottles,
A still life in Oils

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I posted.

Way to long.

Not that I have not been busy with art, just the opposite!

It has been a totally busy month!

I am working on two paintings and many, many projects with students at the Renaissance Art Gallery.

I am finally getting to a place where I think I will keep the paintings I am work on rather than destroy them.


Hollyhocks at that Ugly stage!

Doesn't it seem as if all works of art go through an "ugly" stage when you are sure you have ruined them?

It does for me. And the more I have invested in them the worse it seems.

One thing this does is that I can assure my students that this happens and if you work through it, believe in what you are doing it will turn out. Not necessarily as you first envisioned, but it will turn out!

I will be posting the final version(s) of my paintings next week!

Field of Daisys II

Field of Daisys II
S. Tschantz

So often I see other artists in frustration over what gallery goers ohh and ahh over.

 

“It’s so ordinary!” “All they want is ultra-realism”"Another floral! ugh!" “They don’t understand art”

 

Well, no, not in the sense you know art. Why would they? Let’s face it. In all areas, those on the inside have a totally different view of that subject/world than those on the outside looking in.

 

Programmers, carpenters, architects,  they all have an insider’s view.

 

Why would visual art be any different.

 

That is not to say that the average gallery goers do not understand art. They do. But what they want from art differs from us.

 

We look at art all day long. Our eye may tire of the misty landscape. We want the different. Art that pushed the envelop.

 

Badland Canyon
S. Tschantz

But why would you want or expect that of others?

 

They want that which enriches their lives. Art they can live with. While the edgy might invigorate us, they might not want art that is, well, uncomfortable.

 

They want art that is familiar and comfortable. And why not? Life today is upsetting enough. Most find getting up and going to work each day challenging enough. When they come home, they want comfort and joy.

 

 

 

Why We Make Art

This is something we artists often talk about. We can talk about it for hours and hours. I have my own thoughts on it.

Helen South, About.com/drawing&Sketching guide has written a long and thoughtful article this week for her weekly newsletter/blog that I thought was worth reading.

Why We Make Art

For me, making art is simply a part of being human. All cultures, all peoples have the "arts" in some form. Even the most "primative" (and I use that word loosely) create art. If they have nothing else to be creative on, they decorate and create what is to their eyes, beauty on themselves.

It is as if being able to create and appreciate art is one of the definitions of Human.

Miniature Show is Over

It seems like I was planning forever. But the 11th Annual National Miniature Show ends Monday. After that it is time to take down, make sure those paintings that sold, and there were a lot of them this year, get to their rightful owners, and the rest returned to the artists.

For the last 6 weeks I have done little but teach my classes and take people through the show.

But all the work was worth it. Now I can relax, at least for a month!

then come January, the planning starts on next years shows!

But until then I have time to work on my own art. And decide what direction it will take.

I want to take the time to do a few of the painting project on about.com/painting, especially this month’s mixed media project.

I had not been very interested in mixed media in the past, but now that I have gained experience and insight into more media, the thought of combining them is more welcoming.

I also want to explore supports more, like film, velum and parchment.  

Now is the right time to stop and reflect on where I have been to see where I have to go.

People Are Sight Hounds

We rely on our sight for hunting. That is the way we developed and this ability to see and compare quickly, is one key to our species success. What we see has power for us and over us.



It is our bases for reality. This is not the case for all species. Dogs, for instance get 80% of their environmental information from their sense of smell. For them, smell is more real than even sight. While they do know what we look like, it is our smell that does the final identification of us. We rely on what we see.



Visual cues and clues are extremely important to us from infancy onward.



First emphasis is on facial recognition, eye to eye contact. Eyes draw our eyes from the first and what we cannot see disappears.



Peek-a-boo



This link between sight and reality is what makes peek-a-boo such an exciting game. When something is out of sight it does indeed disappear for the baby. And why what we see has so much power over us. There is some truth to the saying “out of sight out of mind”.



Things we see are real to us, even when they are not. How often have we exclaimed about how realistic something looks, how a painting almost looks as if we could walk into it. Been fooled by some Faux finish into thinking an object was one thing rather than another? No dog was ever fooled by a painting. Now, an odor?



But to us, seeing is believing.



We use drawings to communicate information and to clarify things all the time.



“I see” said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw.



This dependence on sight is reflected in our language. Seeing is equated with truth, knowledge and understanding. “I see” we say when we understand. The word see and understand are synonyms. Most often when we use the word see, we are referring to knowledge rather than sight.



The light bulb goes off, the idea is illuminated, bringing it into the “light” and making it understandable.



This dependence on sight is what makes visual art so powerful and at times so controversial. We see it, we need to understand it. We are uncomfortable with art we don’t understand. It is subliminally threatening to us. So photo-realistic art can be comforting, reassuring to many viewers.