About style, Sorolla is quoted as saying "...I began my own method of action. Whether good or bad, I don't know; but sincere, real, the reflection of what my eyes saw and what my heart felt: an exact expression of what I thought art should be."
No name yet, just below Steelhead Falls, deep in the canyon on the Deschutes River
oil on canvas, 14 x 18 @2010
As I continue to refine an understanding of my particular style, I grow both more comfortable with my approach and more aware of what I don't yet understand. I am always a student. Right now I am studying Joaquin Sorolla's use of color and Nicolai Fechin's abstractions and surfaces. Try as I might, I am only able to achieve a level of abstraction by using a palette knife, and it is usually in the final stages of a painting that I try to put some gestural brush marks on the surface without obliterating the underlying layers. So I will take Sorolla's advice and settle on a method of action of my own - since I can't seem to change it anyway.
Whether good or bad, it is sincere, real, and a reflection of what my eyes saw and what my heart felt.
Very timely for me to read this now. I find it so interesting to delve into an artist (either by book or by instruction) and try to make their work as an exorcise. After practicing their strategies, I go back to my work and see what sticks to me and what may fall by the wayside. Maybe none of it sticks, but I like trying them on.
I may need to write about this!
Posted by: TracyWall | May 22, 2010 at 07:26 PM