20x30" - Page 2

Kimberly Dow · 05-02-2005, 01:02 PM

Thanks Claudemir - it means that I did one nude a few weeks ago - it's in the Nude Unveilings section. The reference I used was someone else's photography and model that I was given permission to use one time. I wanted to warm-up with that one without the hassel of hiring a model - just to see if I enjoyed it or if there was any interest from my collectors.

Claudemir Bonfim · 05-02-2005, 01:06 PM

Thanks for the answer, I liked that one a lot, but I like this one much more. Please, always use your own refences, they are much better to me.

Garth Herrick · 05-03-2005, 10:12 AM

Dear Kim,

The top one is so sensative, natural, and compelling, with that believable setting. Please do another like that when you get the chance! Your recent paintings just blow me away with your blossoming virtuosity (not that your earlier paintings did not move me too)!

Garth

Linda Brandon · 05-03-2005, 10:56 AM

I vote for the top one, too.

I think there are lots of surprising issues when painting nudes: sappy? tacky? edgy? boring? lurid? tasteless? sleazy? (Sounds like the names of the Seven Dwarves.) I like how you are managing this genre, Kim.

Tom Edgerton · 05-03-2005, 01:23 PM

The top one, definitely.

Apart from the softer atmosphere, it's a better value distribution. The darks are scattered around the canvas in a more balanced, interesting way. In the second version, the lights are all corralled into an oval "hole" smack in the middle. You fall in and your eye stays in that oval. The background might as well not be there.

The same is revealed when it's turned upside down and viewed in the abstract, subject matter aside.

(Nice job, Kim.)
--TE

Kimberly Dow · 05-03-2005, 02:27 PM

Thanks Garth, Linda & Tom. I am taking all comments to heart and I will re-do this one again.

Your right Linda - there are a lot of issues that arise with nudes that I hadn't encountered before! Just getting a model to pose when the kids aren't around is a logistical obstacle. I am enjoying it though as a new challenge. I've heard lots about nudes not selling, so I wasnt sure if it was something I'd continue to do or not. Today a gallery took my first one and would like more - so I guess I will paint at least a couple more and see if the gallery sells them. I try not to think of sales when I paint a figurative, but in this case I am just not sure I want 20 nudes hanging around my house for the husband to stare at - in case they dont sell. It's been interesting to watch the kids reactions. I think its been good for them to appreciate art in general and not think of this as something 'bad'. They are used to it in all the art books I have, but I am still hearing the word 'boobies' a lot in my house these days....

signed,
Sleazy nude painter dwarf

Rob Sullivan · 05-05-2005, 11:02 AM

I have not a few nudes (paintings, folks... paintings) lying around the house, and they supply interesting fodder for house guests. It's never been a "problem", however. And the kids? Well, one day, my daughter and her friend (both 7) were in the house and the friend asked, giggling, "Why does your dad paint people with no clothes on?" My daughter replied, "Because to get good at painting people, you need to know what they really look like underneath, so you can know the skeleton and muscles and stuff." Her friend seemed satisfied at the answer, and I was just beaming with pride; she actually listened to Daddy on that one!

So, I too say - top one. Perhaps, next time you might consider taking the original into Photoshop just to experiment with backgrounds, rather than go for it on the first version. I can see that it would be hard to get that wonderful warm "glow" back over the current dark background.

All that notwithstanding, the figure itself is painted quite well. There is a sensuousness in the soft handling of paint on such a lovely figure. This is a big leap from the post in "unveilings" for the very reason that was already stated: this is your own reference. Your understanding of the subject comes through much more clearly here as a result.

Great work! More soon, I hope!

Janel Maples · 05-05-2005, 11:19 AM

Kim,

I have the same issues as you do with hiring people for nude modeling and having small children having access to your studio. My children (ages 15, 10 and 3.5) have accepted it quite well without a flinch. Some adults flinch. But Grandpa (soon to be 90) viewed the four paintings I am currently working on in my studio (one Bouguereau copy, two portrait commissions and one nude figurative) and after a few silent moments turned to me and said "Very nice..." then pointed to the nude (3'x4') and continued "but that is the one I wouldn't mind hanging above my bed."

I am having a ball with it. I don't hear boobies....my three 1/2 year old called them boodles. Ahhhh kids are great! So are grandpas.

Linda Brandon · 05-05-2005, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimberly Dow

Your right Linda - there are a lot of issues that arise with nudes that I hadn't encountered before!

As a side note, I'm reading (more or less simultaneously) three books by Camille Paglia: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...479905-1887257 (I apologize for not being able to get this to hyperlink, I'm on some new computer software this week.) Her books contain some controversial ideas about subject matter and sexuality issues in the art world. Anybody who enjoys lively (emphasis on lively) art/culture/gender role debate should give Paglia a shot.

Anthony Emmolo · 05-14-2005, 06:03 PM

I like the top one as well.

It has taken a long time, but I have learned the hard way to STOP and relax before setting out to adjust a painting. Why did you feel the first version was boring? It was actually quite sensitive? Well, good luck redoing it. You'll do a fine job. You've got a lot of talent.
Anthony