Simple Shapes

"On the Beach"
Oil on cardboard, 42 x 48 cm
Felix Vallotton, 1899

This week I was thumbing through my catalogue from a retrospective of the works of Felix Vallotton. Vallotton (1865-1925) painted in France, and was a member of the "Nabis". I have written before about the Nabis and their approach to painting. There is something very powerful in the  simplicity of the Nabis' work. I find their use of simple, graphic patterns very appealing. I guess that's no surprise, since I am a fan of simplification in painting.

"Box Seats at the Theater, the Gentleman and the Lady"
Oil on canvas, 46 x 38 cm
Felix Vallotton, 1909

I don't know how Vallotton managed to say so much with so little. The painting directly above was the cover photo from the retrospective. A gloved hand, a face barely visible under a hat--a few simple lines tell it all. I can certainly see why the curators of the retrospective gave it the title "Felix Vallotton: The Fire Under the Ice"--the surface simplicity of these paintings belies their great impact.

Fellow painter Nancy Franke has written about her desire to simplify. She even wonders what "simplicity" means--whether it is brevity of brushstrokes, or use of a single idea, or even a simple background. I would say that Vallotton's paintings exemplify all of the above. 

Even more compelling in their simplicity are Vallotton's woodblock prints. Amazing! Here are a few of my favorites:

"L'Argent"
Felix Vallotton

"Le Violin"
Felix Vallotton, 1896

"L'Irreparable"
Felix Vallotton, 1898

These prints are irrepressibly modern in sensibility. And quite brave---look at those huge areas of uninterrupted black or white! In fact, the use of large areas of pure black and pure white are a signature of Vallotton's style, as are his bold cropping choices. (Before Vallotton, most printmakers used cross-hatching to vary the shading of their subjects from light to dark). 

There is definitely something to be learned from Vallotton about the benefit of using simple shapes. He also proves the power of a good arrangement of lights and darks. I think I'll be referring back to this catalogue often, to help me focus on simplification. Less is more!

Finding your Rectangle

One of the most important steps in creating the composition of your painting is "finding your rectangle". If you don't define the edges of your painting, you can't make a strong composition. Why? Because good composition depends on placement of shapes, and you can't place your shapes if you have not

What's Your Focal Length?

Much is written and discussed among painters about "finding your style". I have come to believe that our style finds us, and we cannot escape it. What people often call your "style" is an expression of your artistic DNA that is inescapable. As Kevin Macpherson has said, a person's painting style is like his handwriting: it is absolutely unique, and  cannot be disguised, even if he tries.

Twyla Tharp writes that a key aspect of a person's creative personality is his preferred "focal length". I had sensed that concept for a long time, but

Perceptual Painting

"Drawbridge"
14 x 18
(c) Frank Hobbs 2013

Today I am tackling a topic that has been on my mind very much of late. It's the moniker "perceptual painting". Most of the painters whose work I admire would be categorized as perceptual painters--and I would be honored if I myself were categorized as a perceptual painter. And yet the term is not a familiar one to most people. So what in the world does it mean?

"Joucas Blue Door"
7 x 15, oil on linen
(c) Maggie Siner 2014

Perceptual painting is an approach to painting that involves working directly from the natural world, and painting what you are seeing. The perceptual painter works from observation (rather than from memory, from photographs, or from imagination). He stands in the presence of the motif, and experiences looking at it. I think a perceptual painter would say that working directly from the subject gives rise to a response that is categorically different than working from a photograph. After all, the human eyes work quite differently than the lens of a camera.

"Hat and Roses"
oil on linen, 26 x 32
(c) Maggie Siner 2012

In the words of Maggie Siner, perceptual painting "assumes a truth about the long education in seeing that is necessary to achieve mastery in painting." It also assumes a serious study of vision, and of how our visual perception works. 

I have written a number of posts about "SEEING". It's an important topic, because seeing is the foundation of successful painting, and it is hard to do!

"Favorite Words"
26 x 32
(c) Phillip Geiger

Perceptual painting is not the same thing as "plein air" painting. Plein air painting, by definition, occurs outdoors, typically with the landscape as the subject. But perceptual painting can happen in the studio (as well as outdoors, of course). And perceptual painting can apply to any subject matter. 

"Abandoned Factory"
(c) Frank Hobbs

I have illustrated this post with paintings by some of my favorite perceptual painters. For those who want to know more, I highly recommend the website Painting Perceptions. I'd be curious to know from my readers--is "perceptual painting" a term that you were very familiar with before reading this post?

Gardening

"Ready to Plant"
14 x 11, oil on canvas
(c) Lesley Powell 2015

The groundhog recently told us that we have six more weeks of winter. Despite what he said, I am thinking of spring! The clay pots stacked in my garage have seemed to be begging for planting season to arrive, and they provided the inspiration for a new series of paintings. I'm sure that the other artists in my studio building thought I was crazy

Cypress

"Cypresses"
Vincent van Gogh, 1889

My local newspaper recently ran an article in the Garden section about the cypress tree. I was delighted to see that the article focused on Vincent van Gogh's depictions of the beautiful cypress trees in the south of France. The article noted that the cypress species that van Gogh painted were most likely a fatter, more irregular type than the pencil-thin cypress that we see today. Hmmm.That helps explain