Einstein and Vermeer on Making Problems

“The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution.  To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old questions from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advances… ”

- Einstein (The Evolution of Physics, 1938, as quoted in Drawing on the Artist Within, Betty Edwards, Simon & Schuster, Inc., NY, 1986, p. 3)

Here is a phrase I keep on my studio wall to keep me focused:

IF YOU ARE NOT SOLVING A PROBLEM, YOU ARE NOT MAKING ART.

Every great representational painting has three subjects:

• The subject matter (landscape, figure, still life, etc.)
• The visual arrangement on the surface (visual problem)
• The communication of universal human experience

Vermeer, The Milkmaid

Vermeer didn’t just paint what he saw.  This is a masterful arrangement that taps into universal human experience.  

(Analyzing art cannot completely decode the mystery of how it works, but there is still much to learn.  So here goes my attempt)-

1)  First things that hits me  is the red/blue/yellow primary triad harmony.  Yellow is dominant.  There is unity with hierarchy.  This is not accidental!

2)    Notice the repeated curved  shapes:  head, shoulder, hand, jug’s mouth, bread loaf…  Played off against repeated angular shapes:  the window frame,  table top, baskets, mouse trap, etc.   It’s like melody and harmony.

3)  There is a stong implied “X” created by the movement of the figure from upper right to lower left balanced by the implied movement (or line) created by the baskets from upper left toward lower right, completed by the mouse trap at bottom right.

4)  The figure herself is linked the the table, forming a large triangle, which gives the whole thing tremendous gravitas and stability.

5)  Drama is also enhanced by Vermeer’s use of the full range of values - from almost black to nearly white.  If he were a pianist, he’d be all over that keyboard.

6)  But here’s the kicker- this painting is visually all about pouring.  The dark line formed by the shadow side of the figure is pouring itself down the canvas.  The implied line from the head, down the arm to the jug, to the bowl, food, and blue cloth draped over the table edge is pouring.  The framed picture and baskets and basket shadow  in the upper left are pouring down from left to right.

Like a musician composing a theme and variation, Vermeer has taken the theme of pouring and played it all through.    He’s done the same with color.  There are visual bass lines, tenor, alto and soprano all in harmony.

How does this image transcend time and place? How did he manage to paint  my mother, my wife, my friends?   He painted the dignity of meal preparation for all time.

Vermeer set up a visual problem, like a master composer.  He used every means at his disposal to create an arresting arrangement of marks on a surface that takes our breath away.

Amazing.

Jumper Cables for Artists

Unmade Bed 8 x 10

On days when I need a jump start, nothing beats a 15 minute pochade.  Do one every day for a week, and you’ve got five of ‘em.   Do two a day and you have ten.   Momentum builds quickly.

Visual ideas begian to percolate.    My energy starts to come back.  What felt like a dry river bed of creative juice usually becomes a trickle, then a steady flow, sometimes  even a gully-washer.

Fallen Tree 8 x 10

First thing in the morning here’s what I often do to get things moving- set a timer for a ridiculously short amount of time.  Like 15 minutes.  (Or 20 if I’m feeling sluggish).

Then I bang out an arrangement of paint on  board or canvas.                   Small–  5 x 7, 6 x8, 8 x 10 etc.  Not for anybody to see.  Just for the fun of moving paint, for practice making instinctive visual decisions.

Most of them will never be seen by anybody else.    There is no pressure to perform.  If  some turn out good enough to frame and sell, that’s a bonus. 

CREATIVITY THRIVES WITHIN CONSTRAINTS.   Time makes a great one.

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Feed Lot Study 6 x 8 SOLD

LINGO- don’t leave home without it:

It’s  important to start speaking French if you are painting 9 x 12 or smaller.   That’s key to being an artist.   11 x 14 and up?   It’s a painting.   But go smaller and you have to be careful to use the correct lingo.  It’s not a study, sketch, or miniature.  It’s a pochade.

Pass the brie…

Personal Obstacles

Misty Tree Line 9 x12 SOLD

One of my artist professors at RISD began going blind in the 1990’s.  Forced to retire, he had to change his painting style because of his limitations.  During a visit with him in 2003 he talked about his struggle, showing me how he painted with his face almost touching the canvas.    The works were large, beautiful, and moving.  (He told me his newer paintings sold better than anything he had done before).  But what stood out to me most was simply that HE KEPT PAINTING.   That’s guts.

A friend  here in Indiana is losing her sight.   She continues to paint in earnest, knowing she’s racing against the clock.   One friend has had serious medical setbacks, another struggles with depression.   Both continue to paint.   I have had significant insomnia frequently over the past five years, as well as mild depression.   I’m pressing on.

All of us have some kind of limitations.    Relational, financial, physical, mental, emotional…. They vary over time, but there are painfully real.    Are you facing obstacles on the path to your ability to create?   If not, you will.  It’s part of the deal.   Renoir, crippled in both hands in old age, continued on with brushes  strapped to his wrists.  Monet’s cataracts gave us his water lillies.  Degas went mostly blind, and rediscovered color in his old age.

People say you have to paint every day if you are going to be good.        FORGET IT. If you can’t, you can’t.  Paint when you can.                                       And don’t worry about it.

You’ll never get an award for this.    It’s likely that nobody will know about your struggles and triumphs over your personal obstacles.     But if you are among those who paint because you have to — because it’s simply in you to do it (you know who you are), then it was never really about that  anyway.  It was about connecting with joy in a way that only happens with a brush in your hand.

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I’m writing this for my own benefit, but figured maybe there is somebody else who might be encouraged today to face your personal limitations squarely, adapt wisely, and stay the course.

Work Boots

Work Boots 10 x 8 oil

My friend Ed Orebaugh.    One of a series on this subject, painted this week.

Sorolla and Diebenkorn on Balance

What do these two paintings have in common?  One is a warm color harmony depiction of  figures pushing a boat at the beach, the other a monochromatic still life which is as much about paint texture as coffee cups.

Sorolla "Morning Sun, (Valencia Beach)"

Diebenkorn "Still Life with Letter" 1961

Both images balance a large mass closer to the center of the canvas with a smaller mass further from the center.     And in both cases the smaller mass repeats shapes and colors found in the larger mass, but differently (repeat with variation).

It’s the ol’ teeter totter trick!  The one we often see in books on composition fundamentals:

The Ol' Teeter Totter Trick

Seeing these two master works side-by-side is a great reminder to me that:

1)  The masters were masters of the fundamental principles of good design.  You never outgrow the basics.

2)  Style is not the point – good design is the point.

3)  Good abstract design is the basis of all truly great representational art.

I’m going to be looking for opportunities to walk in their footsteps and use this idea of balancing a large mass with a small one in my own work.

Self-Forgetfulness

Corn Stubble 30 x 40 SOLD

I once asked a very successful, well known painter (you would know his name) what he would paint if he didn’t have to consider the marketplace.  I’ve never forgotten his answer–

“I don’t know,” he said.

Whether you are an amateur or professional painter, you have to face the question on each canvas – what am I aiming for?  Sales?  Awards?  Fame?  Affirmation?  Or something else?

My best work always happens when those kind of goals are nowhere in sight.   It’s the happy moments of self-forgetfulness that produce the good stuff -  the pieces that move others.

How do we keep it honest?  How do we not paint what we think others expect us to paint?

Fame and money can become a trap that squelches creativity.   Another very successful painter friend told me he’s bored silly painting what he paints, but he’s stuck, because people can’t get enough of it.   They pay him big bucks to keep doing the same basic idea over and over again.   Golden handcuffs.

I did a lot of thinking and praying yesterday at the start of this new year, trying to refocus on what really matters.  I want to be free to explore.  Free to fail.  Free to grow.

I don’t want to fall into the trap of painting the same basic piece for the rest of my life, or the same “style”.  Or even worse, make a cold market analysis and then paint cheap imitations of someone else’s golden handcuffs.    (It can be very tempting).

So I’m trusting that the One who gave the gift will provide as He sees fit, while I do my best to find my way back to the joy that got me started doing this in the first place.

Mary, Big Book in the Big Chair

Happy New Year!  I wish you happy painting in 2010.

Thanks for taking time to read my blog.   I hope it’s encouraging and inspiring to you.

Please let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to address here.

Painting Workshop: Sight to Insight

There are still a few spots available for procrastinators!

Feb 11 – 13 2010  Naples Art Association, Naples FL

$450

To register and for more info:
Nicole Dupont Strub 239-262-6517 x 110

How do you take your work to the next level? If that question is on your mind, this workshop is for you.

“If you aren’t solving a problem, you aren’t making art.”

Making art involves making choices-what to emphasize, what to leave out, and why-

Our Guides will be Degas & Deibenkorn, Picasso & Pissaro, Rembrandt & Rothko, Cassatt & Chagall, +  many others.

Universal principles of visual communication were used by all the masters in every style and period.  If they can do it, why can’t we??

Instruction is tailored to the needs and goals of the individual.

• Demos
• One-on-one instruction
• A relaxed, fun atmosphere that encourages experimentation and growth

“Do not paint what you see.  Use what you see to make ART.”

What will you paint?  Your choice – You can work from any of the following:

1.  Photo reference (bring several choices)

2.  A Still life  (bring your own objects)

3.  A plein-air painting you’d like to develop into a studio piece

A materials list will be sent to you once you register.

The goal is not to get you to paint like I do, but to paint like yourself with more beauty and power of expression in your work.  It’s not about technique or style, but a mindset. - David

Feedback from previous workshop students:

“The best workshop I’ve ever taken.”  – J.K.

“The strength of the design and composition in these classes has not been equaled or even approached in other classes and workshops I have taken.” -G.H.

“Strengths as a teacher:  intelligence, hard work, sense of humor, humility.  I told Bonnie on the last day of class that I feel very lucky to study with you”  – L.W.

White Barn in Snowy Woods

White Barn in Snowy Woods 9 x 12 oil (SOLD)

Painted from memory in my warm studio.

Master Copy: Cezanne

Copy of Cezanne's "The Plate of Apples" 18 x 21 oil

Here’s a master copy I was working on today and yesterday – trying on Cezanne’s shoes for a while and tripping around in them.   I want to ask the man – “What were you doing and how did you do it?” 

Pop the hood and let me have a look inside!

Cezanne himself studied and copied the masters all his life.  He would go to the museum to copy in the morning, then come home and paint his own work in the afternoon.

Here’s to you, Paul.

And thanks.

Matisse

“In the same way that in a musical harmony each note is a part of the whole, so I wished each color to have a contributory value.  A picture is the co-ordination of controlled rhythms.” – Matisse   (quoted by Yve-Alain Bois, “Cezanne and Matisse:  From Apprenticeship to Creative Misreading”, essay in Cezanne and Beyond, Yale University Press, 2009, p. 113)

My friend and mentor Bob Farlow used to tease me when we’d critique each other’s paintings.  “Why’d you put THAT in there?”  He’d say, pointing to a tree or telephone pole that was messing up the harmony of the canvas.   “Because it was there,” I’d answer with mock defiance.   “I’m a plein air painter!”

It’s so easy to paint what we see, but HARD to paint a harmony of “controlled rhythms.”

More from author Yve-Alain Bois on Matisse:  “From Cezanne (Matisse) had learned that one should always conceive the painting as a whole, as a bound, energetic field of operation;  that colors are the main forces playing on the field and that drawing could be produced by their relationship alone;  and, even  more, that there is no difference between color and drawing.” (Yve-Alain Bois, “Cezanne and Matisse:  From Apprenticeship to Creative Misreading”, essay in Cezanne and Beyond, Yale University Press, 2009, p.111)

My responsibility as a painter is not to simply describe what my eyes see, but to create a unified harmony of colored marks on the surface of the canvas.

From a sign on my studio wall:

“DO NOT PAINT WHAT YOU SEE.                                                                       USE WHAT YOU SEE TO MAKE ART.”