Night Music

Night Music   oil/canvas   40 x 30 x 1.5

Here is that same wonderful triangle....head, hands, instrument....my favorite. In painting a figure, we artists are always tempted to spend too much time on the face. But I have learned, albeit reluctantly, that body parts must be subject to prioritization in order to tell your story, to pay honor to your focal point. A portrait is a portrait. A figure painting is something else entirely. It all gets very confusing when I try to sort out the important parts. In this session, the musician's knees were the closest parts to me. It follows then, that in order to render the illusion of 3 dimensions, the knees would be fully described. However, I wanted the knees to be supporting actors to the important triangle already mentioned. So I attempted to use the rhythm of the gesture of the legs to pull interest up into the hands/guitar area. Another way to accomplish this goal is to render the legs more flatly, heading into 2-dimensional flatness. I had to flatten them, while honoring the jutting forward of the kneecap. Trial and error. It is interesting to watch a dozen painters work from the same model. Each and every one is different. Each and every one tells a different story. Every model can become a metaphor for something deep within your soul. Priorities. Preferences. I really do try to identify my focal point before I set the brush to canvas. Knowing where you are going is a good thing. Remind me of that next time I am behind the wheel.

A Slight Curve

A Slight Curve   watercolor/gouache   13 x 10

Many years back, I was granted permission to watch a rehearsal of The Akron Symphony Orchestra. My goal was to come back with sketches and photos to work from. "A Slight Curve" was done with watercolor over gouache. I first coated the paper with a layer of permanent white gouache that had been thinned to the consistency of cream. Then I painted in watercolor. The gouache creates a surface that is finitely changeable and malleable, which is something that is difficult when working transparently. White gouache is a body color.....it adds opacity to the paint. All colors become tints. It really is a totally different way of working with the medium. I like this small painting and felt the curves of the instrument and likened them to the curves of the human body. This musician is caressing his instrument. That is the mark of a true musician. Just the way we caress watercolor paper with our brushes. Soft touch.

Groupie

Renaissance Man   watercolor   18 x 12.5

I am a music groupie of sorts................and love most kinds of music. It seems to me that musicians and visual artists alike trust their intuitions to make the music, the painting, their own. For me, playing the piano became the source of great stress. I just couldn't get over the performance anxiety and the feeling that I was continually being watched and judged. But I continued to admire those who played, those who went inside of themselves to interpret the music, to make it their own. Both art forms resist words. And so, along with paintings of those who labor, I have found that paintings of those who make music have always pleased me. I think I have painted dozens of musicians over the years. "Renaissance Man" is a painting done of my nephew George while he was still in high school and played the viola. Even then, the shapes of the figure merged with the background and rhythms took a higher priority than the figure itself. The triangle created by the musician's head (with intent gaze), the hands and the instrument is so important and symbolizes, to me, the going beyond the self, the letting in of the thing that makes one greater than the self. Head. Heart. Instrument.

More joy....another perfect triangle

Night Music   oil/canvas   40 x 30 x 1.5

I have always envied concert musicians. They make beautiful music together and seem to enjoy being a part of a greater music machine. Being a small part of something greater.....ah, yes. And the bonus part is that no one is singling you out. You can remain invisible. I have performance anxiety and ended up not wanting to play the piano anymore for that reason. I have always wanted to play saxophone or guitar. Visual artists, on the other hand, enjoy working alone. They like to work and problem-solve by themselves.....and without the scrutiny of others. The judging can be done later.....without the physical presence of the artist.

Head:Hands:Heart

Oboe   oil/canvas   48 x 24

The triangle is a perfect compositional shape to me. That includes most musicians, who have a wonderfully intimate relationship with their instruments. Head...hands....tool. What could be better? As I profess to be a musician groupie anyways, painting them gives me great joy, perhaps the same kind of joy they feel when they are making music. "Oboe" was painted a few years back. At that time, my subject played the oboe at the high school level. She is currently taking a masters degree in the instrument. Her seriousness was early apparent. To me, she and her instrument share a common beauty.