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Rocks done, ready for Texas
As we have done for the last few year, we will be spending Thanksgiving in Texas with my husband’s side of the family (plus our son). I will fly tomorrow (don’t you know Thanksgiving is the best travel day?!?) with a clear conscience. I’ve been struggling for the past couple of weeks with three paintings of the wonderful karst (limestone) formations we saw along the Li River in China. And now, I’ve finally finished one:
Li River Karst
Of course, the others will still be waiting for me when I return, but hey, a woman’s work is never done.
Sleighbells ring …
HOLIDAY SHOW & SALE
ART STUDENTS LEAGUE, 215 W 57 St, 8:30 – 8:30 M-F; 8:30 – 4:00 Sa-Su
December 6 – 22
Forget about another LL Bean pair of slippers or a Clinique bath set. Why not go for something different: something artsy, unique, handmade! An original work of art by an accomplished local artist at a friendly, affordable price.
There will be 400 paintings and 50 pieces of sculpture all made by the League’s talented artists. The maximum sale price is $800 for paintings and $1200 for sculptures, with many pieces priced significantly below that. Give original art that fits your budget.
I will have one painting in the show:
Rock Wall
When one piece sells, it will be replaced with another by the same artist. So come more than once and see what has changed.
Painting from photographs is OK!
I have a number of artist friends who think that a real artist (pronounced artiste with a French accent) doesn’t paint from photographs. One should only paint pleine air, or from a model or still life set up. Photographs don’t convey enough information; real life is so much richer. While true, this is often beside the point.
Sometimes, all you have time for is a quick, hopefully in focus, photo. Getting my husband to slow down while driving to Fairway enough for me to snap a quick photo of some interesting rocks is hard enough. Just picture my trying to get him to stop long enough for me to actually paint them … ain’t gonna happen.
Artists also often object to paintings based on photographs because the camera has already provided the composition, value (light and dark) and color judgments. According to them, the artist who paints from photographs is simply copying the photograph. I beg to differ on this point as well.
Let’s look at some examples.
On our recent trip to China, I took a lot of photographs of the karst formations along the Li and Yangtze rivers. Painting from those photos will consume me for months. So far, one photo has generated three different paintings (and a fourth in the works). Although you can clearly see the connection, the paintings are nothing like copies of the photo.
First the photo (which I have already turned upside down and cropped):
Karst photo
Now, here are the paintings. My first quick sketch …
Karst II
And my next two paintings:
Karst III
Karst IV
I rest my case. Although you can see the connections to the photo, these are obviously not copies of the photo. I keep moving the pieces around, varying the sizes and shapes and colors and value. And without the photo, I wouldn’t remember enough to even start a painting, let alone finish more than one. The photo reminds me of what I loved about the Li River cruise and the paintings are my way of cementing that memory and paying tribute to that trip.
How do you feel about working from photographs?
Ruth Hurd | BLOG 