Deep Seeing

"Deep Seeing" is a phrase I use to describe the trained observation of an artist working in the realist tradition. It is an essential quality which is necessary to paint well, and, unfortunately is very difficult to teach and usually comes into being only after years of effort.

You might say it is rather Zen-like. . . it is something which is gained without really being able to know exactly what it is, but which is undoubtedly known to exist when the goal is reached (to paraphrase Lao-tzu, "The seeing which can be spoken of is not the true seeing."). Part of it is the ability to break down what you see into various parts: to simplify complex views, to analyse the aspects of color (hue, value, chroma, color temperature, local color, etc.). Part of it is becoming very sensitive to subtle shifts in these (for instance, being able to understand the apparent contradiction of a "cold" orange), another is to see the motif not as you see it with your normal vision, but to actually see it as if it were painted.

These are but a few aspects which only "point the way" to what I call "deep seeing" is. Some people are born with it and others have to work at it for years before they "get" it. Some never end up really able to see in this manner. My advice is to try to observe very very carefully what you are looking at, and try different ways of approaching that looking -- for example note any shifts in chroma as a surface advances or recedes.

It aslo means to be able to impose ideas on your seeing: have you ever been able to use the principle of atmospheric perspective in a still-life, or a nude? It is like understanding that a surface which is soft, and has depth in its turning will cause our eyes to have to refocus over its surface as it turns in space, making part of it always out of focus, and hence a suitable place to have a soft or very soft edge (eg. a breast), while a hard surface which turns quickly (eg. the elbow) might be better painted using a technique which is less soft, and a hard line (like a crease) might use a very hard edge, a definite line to make it look like it exists in space.

Keeping so many ideas in mind along with everything else which goes on while painting (proportions, color, form, loading the brush. . . etc.) can seem an impossible task. The only way to manage it successfully is by experience. Little by little these concerns will become second nature to you and you won't even consciously think of them, they will just seem to flow from your brush. This is called "mastery."

I will be blogging more on this important topic, and would like to hear your views and ideas and experiences. What do you think?

What's this about?

So what is all this about "old masters' techniques" anyway? Who were the "old masters" and why should we care about how a bunch of long-dead men (for the most part) painted hundreds of years ago?

The old masters are painters who worked from the early 15th century, generally around the time of the van Eycks, until the early 20th century, when the classical tradition became surplanted by "modern" art -- Impressionism and all the other "-ism" like Cubism; Fauvism; Experssionism, etc. Their works were realistic, that is, they painted to represent the world of physical forms, or imaginary beasts and gods from the past as if they were physically present. They strived to present an illusion of three dimensions on their support, and in general they show a very high degree of ability in drawing as well as painting.

The fact that so many of their paintings have survived for centuries recommends their technical proceedures to those of us who wish our own paintings to last, and the beautiful representation of textures and objects, people and places they achieved are still strived for by realists of the present day.

Many abstract or modern painters were well trained in the old masters' techniques. Picasso in his youth was an accomplished realist painter, and Salvador Dalí stated that his mission was to "save painting." His sketches and paintings show a consumate command of realist principles and practices. Part of the fascination with his work lies in his ability to depect a surreal scene in a believable realist manner.

Many of the Impressionist painters were also classically trained, but, as the twentieth century unfolded, the training was rapidly lost, as newer ideas about what painting was or could be, or should be swept the ever-changing fashions of art. In the past few decades realist sensibilities are again appreciated, and many artists are searching for the technical skills which will allow them to paint what they see, either in front of them or in their mind's eye.

It is to this end that the website and this blog are dedicated.

Disaster strikes!

Last April, thieves broke into our apartment and stole, among other things, my portable pc, my video camera and two external hard disk drives, one with 1TB of space on it. About 50 hours of videos which where ready to be uploaded to the website went with them, including the rest of the videos for the film project and also those for the still life.

I am waiting for the insurance company to get their butts in gear and send me my check, but I doubt that it will even come close to being enough to replace everything I have lost, and of course the videos cannot be replaced since the thieves took the back up disk too. However I will probably be able to get another video camera and maybe a hard disk and hopefully a media recorder which will allow me to dispense with the need for a bulky portable pc and I will do all the editing on the desktop, which they did not get. I can do the narration in the edit because I don't usually make the narration while I am painting. (They also got my Edirol sound box too.)

Until then I will revert to publishing the newsletter in the old print format, and will update it with video when I have the capability again. What a bummer! The lesson from this: have really good insurance and upload everything raw for safekeeping.

I am starting a series of new still-lifes, so there will be plenty to shoot with the still camera and eventually redo videos of.

To see what I have up so far go to:

http://www.omptnl.com