Understanding how.

[Allan Rahbek]

I just wonder if it is possible to do anything right if one do not understand the nature of it.?

I am of cause talking about artworks, but it could be any craft for that matter.

When I paint I am always aware of the marks I make with the brush. Sometimes I take chances and do some hazardous strokes, but I am, most of the time, conscious about what I am doing and where I want to go.
I often find that the fastest way is to carefully calculate how to apply the next stroke in stead of fussing around.

"The next stroke" can be a larger area to be painted in some kind of structure that requires action and bold strokes, but they still have to be considered beforehand or it will often be a vast of time and paint.

One have to be conscious.

That is also the case if I want to critique another artists work, I guess.

Whenever I try to say something about another forum members work, in progress, I try to understand the state of the work and imagine what I would do myself to improve that work.

I don

[Claudemir Bonfim]

[QUOTE=Allan Rahbek]

That is also why I don

[Sharon Knettell]

Allan,

Why would you want to paint like either one of them instead of painting the best Rahbecks?

I think it is good to study and admire wonderful painters, but by placing them on such a pedestal we are always shortchanging our own growth.

One often thinks that bravura painting is haphazard, I was just reading a Sargent book today, he would walk up to the canvas and only put down one or two carefully considered strokes. If they went awry he would scrape them down and go at it again, His work was the product of total consciousness. Sometimes you get in a groove when the paint seems to flow, but for me it never seems to be haphazard.

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Claudemir Bonfim

You should add "yet" .

Bonfim and Sharon,

Tshanks, I am not sure that I want to paint like anybody else.

I just wondered if anyone had experienced similar steps in the process of learning. Small but important AHA

[Sharon Knettell]

Allan,

For me it is more like duh!

[Alexandra Tyng]

I like your idea, Allan. It made me think about how I felt when I began to paint when I was about 15. I had no sense of control over my medium. It was all experimentation. The only control I had was to paint very carefully, with small brushes. My style was realistic in the extreme, but I don't think I put a bit of thought into how I was actually describlng things with brushstrokes.

Now I feel I have increasing control over my brushstrokes, not only their shape and size, but the amount of paint and the exact color and value. But my work has become much more painterly and contains lots of abstract passages if you look up close. So it's funny how what appears to be tight control to the (average) viewer may actually be a lack of control, and vice versa. I say "may" because many artists strive for a highly blended, tighter style.

Alex

[Mike McCarty]

Allan,

I have had many seemingly "AHA" moments. Though some might argue not enough.

Of course it is different for each of us because we each value different aesthetics, but that doesn't matter.

About 8 years ago I was in a gallery in Port Aransas, Texas. I was admiring the work of a very good local landscape painter. At that moment it became obvious to me the importance of the paint that lies beneath the surface. The "under painting" if you will. Since that encounter I have been better able to realize my vision of what a good painting should be.

Certain things came together for me at that particular moment. First, the work I was viewing was a very good and instructive example of a particular style of painting that I admired. Next, and maybe more importantly, my mind was ready to accept the lesson that was in front of me. I suppose that upon arriving at that moment I had absorbed a sufficient amount of knowing, or maybe a sufficient number of failures, to prepare myself for the encounter.

We get exposed to "AHA" moments all the time. The problem is we don't recognize them for what they are. The presentation, and the readiness to accept, must coincide.

I don't know if this is what you are meaning Allan, you may be thinking more of a micro, within the painting, AHA moment.

That's all I can Remembradt.