Apotheoun (Tom Livezey at Eleven)

[Geary Wootten]

ps........ Garth....I just saw your extreme close ups and I'm amazed at how little tone and color is needed sometimes to make a huge difference in getting the most realistic nuances. I think Mr. Bouguereau said it best when he had a sudden manifistation come to him during a time early in his career:

<< "During that period of my studies -- around 1846 -- when progress was slow or almost nil, and when no one was willing to provide the explanations my soul craved for, I experienced (it was just after my arrival in Paris) many discouraging weeks.
**I was in this state of mind one day when, strolling through the Louvre, I saw the casts of the Parthenon pediment. How can I describe the emotion I felt? A veil fell from my eyes. Never had I experienced such a deep and intense joy. What was it I saw in those wonderful plasters? I understood that the subtlety of accents, in contrast with large planes, is what makes a drawing great. This truth, which I have yearned all my life to express and which still drives me on, is the secret of art. It applies to composition as well as to drawing proper. It is the principle that must guide both the young beginner and the fully developed artist."

[Michele Rushworth]

Thank you so much, Garth, for posting those super close shots. It's very helpful. (You can always recognize the artists at a museum. We're the ones who stand with our noses just millimeters from the canvases.)

Can you tell me how large a canvas area is represented by, for example, the first closeup of the boy's face?

Also, did you paint these subtle tonal variations by scumbling on top of dry paint?

Thanks again!

[Garth Herrick]

WOW Geary,

You should teach! Thanks so much for the excellent Bouguereau quote. I know so little about his thinking, but this quote certainly seems to shed light on his magic (Now if I only could find that Bouguereau catalogue that belongs to my wife). The subtle shifts of tone and color in his work are what I really admire.

[Michele Rushworth]

And one more question, Garth:

Greek: apotheoun, to deify. Care to tell us the story behind the title?

[Kimberly Dow]

Fabulous painting!

Now THAT's what a little boy without a shirt should look like when painted!

[Garth Herrick]

Originally Posted by Kimberly Dow

Fabulous painting!

Now THAT's what a little boy without a shirt should look like when painted!

Thanks Kimberly! (Although, probably everyone is unique; some people have more flesh and some have more bone).

[Patricia Joyce]

This painting is so far beyond what I can grasp, yet I can't stop looking at every shot of it you have posted here and I keep rereading every comment and piece of this discussion. Being the pure novice, uneducated, beginner I stand in awe. I LOVE this painting and wish I could stand before it.

Thank you very much for posting this beautiful work and sharing your thoughts and your knowledge. There is so much to learn, and I am made hungrier by the quality of art here and the discussions which take place.

[Michele Rushworth]

Garth, what's a "velatura"? And how would you say that was different from a glaze or a scumble? Thanks!