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February 01, 2005
the choice
You have to choose. Well, okay, you don’t have to choose – I have to choose. I have to decide. I have to decide what image to take further, what image to put into oils, into a medium that can last 400 years. Best not to think about that bit.
I’ve done my homework, I buy the best paints: Michael Harding, I prepare hardwood plywood with acrylic primers. [Which is more than can be said for Leonardo.] But then it’s up to me. What do I do? What do I paint? What fraction of human expression do I endeavour to capture?
Then how do I capture it? I can put colours next to each other so they suggest space and volume. I can match skin tones. I can analyse the form and render it accurately. But the IT is something that happens when I’m not looking [or thinking] and it is the IT that makes the picture.
Oh, sure, the other elements help, but they are as dust without IT. And just think if I choose the pose without IT – no matter how well I painted I wouldn’t make it.
Tricky business Johnny Painting.
Posted by john at February 1, 2005 05:10 PM
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